The Real Story
by MadHatter0542
Summary: "My name is Katniss Everdeen... I am 16 years old... My best friend is Gale Hawthorne... I live in District 12... My father died in a mine explosion three days ago... I do not believe he is dead..." When Gale asks Katniss to run away... She says yes...
1. PROLOGUE

PROLOGUE

~This takes place when Katniss is eleven and Gale is thirteen. Their dads were supposed to die in the mines explosion, but that never happened~

My name is Gale Hawthorne...I'm thirteen... My father works in the mines... District 12 is my home.

I gave a frustrated groan as the knot fell loose at my fingertips. Again, I had failed to tie the simple knot my father had shown me.

"Why can't I do it?" I mutter darkly, turning my gaze from the broken snare to my hands. "I followed your instructions, but..." my voice trails.

I feel so guilty for not being able to bring home any food for my family.

Gosh, guilt hurts...

Plus, what's my father going to think? That I'm hopeless at hunting and I'll never be able to tie a simple snare? What if Dad doesn't catch anything and when my snare doesn't work, my family back at home will starve to death? The more that comes into my mind, the more guilt comes over me. What would Dad think when he comes back to see his eldest son throwing a tantrum?

I grunt and try again, knowing I am one of the biggest supporters of my five-person family. With my mother being just days away from giving birth, I know I cannot give up, not now any ways. I try for the fifth time, and again fail. I stand up and walk around for a while, trying to get the stupid snare off my mind. After I'm walking for about a mile or so, I decide to try my snare again. I settle down and snatch the rope from my bag. Not even needing to think, my fingers lead the rope places, doing this so many times, memorizing every step. I finally got it! I walk a few yards away, and begin setting another one. Then another. Then another. I walk around a bit, waiting. Waiting for something to walk right where I want it, so it can become my family's dinner.

After walking around for an hour, I return back to my place with my snares. When my feet lead me to where I want to go, I crouch down to examine my rope that is tied in knots in all different places, to create my trap. In total from my snares I only have one rabbit that is not even dead, just stuck. I pick it up and let it go feeling compassion. I tread on the moist leaves of the woods when I see a figure standing about thirty yards away from me.

The figure was a man. He was tall, about 5'11 with dark brown hair with the same colored eyes. He wore a brown leather jacket with a dark green shirt matching the pine trees around us along with three rabbits hanging from his belt, with brown boots and cheap black pants.

"Um..." I pause.

What should I do? Plus for all I know he could be some Peacekeeper dressed up and being ready to shoot me with the quiver full of arrows that was slung around his back. What would dad do?

The man was leaning against a thick pine about a good thirty yards away from me. If he advanced, I could easily run with a good enough head start to climb a tree.

"I can help you make a better snare, you'll be able to catch plenty more rabbits where that came from." He said slowly, taking a step foreword.

I took a step back, scanning his expression for any sign of suspicion. Nothing, except the look Dad gets when he wants to help me with a mistake.

Can I trust him? Maybe. I'll have to be careful.

The problem is my mind thinks otherwise. I just stand there, having no clue what to do. I open my mouth, but nothing seems to be coming out. I close my mouth and nod. The man chuckles, and in a his deep, worn out voice, he grumbles, "Haha! What's your name, son? You look vaguely familiar."

"Gale. Gale Hawthorne. And what might yours be?" I ask, trying to seem tough and attempting to hide my scared emotions.

"Ash Everdeen," he replies with a chuckle. "You're pretty brave for a young fellow to be trekking' out on these woods." I just shrug, trying keeping a calm expression on my face. He laughs again, "You look familiar. Is by chance, your father David Hawthorne?"

I nod. "May I ask, how you know him?" It was a stupid question, but I slipped out of my mouth before I could stop myself.

"Me and your father are good friends. We work in the mines together." Ash Everdeen answered calmly.

"Now, do you want me to show you how to make the snare or not?" i nod, and we begin.

TWO YEARS LATER

My name is Gale Hawthorne... I am fifteen years old... My father works in the mines with my best friends dad... taught me how to make a snare... District 12 is my home...

I am hunting with and Katniss like we usually do. Katniss is out picking strawberries in the patch we found last summer.

has helped me so much. He taught me how to make a proper snare that does not fall to a piece of string on the ground. I have gained his trust and he has earned mine.

I am walking in the woods when walks up to me, and asks me a question i would never think of hearing.

"Gale?"

"Hmmm?" I reply

"I have gained your trust, and you have gained mine. If there was ever a problem with...any thing, I can trust you to look out for my family. Especially Katniss. She will need a best friend, a good shoulder to lean on. Would you be willing to promise to keep her safe?"

"Yes! Of coarse! I will gladly accept!" I reply honestly.

"Thank you so much! I knew I could count on you! But, no matter what happens, always make sure to be there for Katniss." I nod while smiling, and finish my snare, then return home.

THREE YEARS LATER

~This is seven months before the reaping when Katniss is 16. There was no explosion that killed her dad when she was eleven.~

_My name Ash Everdeen... I am Katniss' father...I work in the mines... David Hawthorne and I have been working on the District 13 case for a long time... This was the chance to put the plan to action..._

I woke up with a start. The shadows of my dream still hung in my mind, and I touched my wife's hand to bring my body back to the waking world. I look at my wife, her eyes still closed in deep sleep. Her beautiful blonde strands of hair that fall lightly over her face glisten in the morning light. I smile, but trying not to wake her, I slip slowly out of bed.

Getting dressed in my plain gray overalls that were blackened from the coal. I pull on my big black boots and take a slice of cheese and ham for my breakfast.

I slink out of the bedroom into the hall where a door leads to my two daughters room. I quietly tiptoe into their room and kiss the top of their heads when Katniss' eyes flutter open.

"Go back to sleep. I am just going to work. I will see you later. I promise." I whisper softly.

Her eyes close again, and I slip out of their room and out of the house, to go to work. My feet lead me to the mines when I meet up with David Hawthorne, my best friend.

Every day of the week, from five o'clock am to eight o'clock pm we are at work in the mines. While we are in the mines working our butts off for the stupid capitol, our oldest children, Gale and Katniss, are hunting for food. At eight thirty we walk separately to our houses and return home for dinner. It's been like that everyday since I can remember.

We are talking small chitchat, and then our hunting senses come to great use. The small, very, very quiet grumble someone without our hunting senses could not hear. When I notice this I nudge David, and he nods understanding. We set down our mining tools and dash to the rusty old elevator. It makes squeaking sounds as it lifts us up from the bottom floor of our workspace underground.

No one notices us. By the time we reach the dust top of district 12, you can actually feel the ground rumble. We dart for the only place that we could find peace. The forest. We wouldn't want to go home just to worry our wives and kids. We also had been working on the mystery of District 13. Since everyone thought we were dead, instead of worrying our family, the only other option is to start our actual work. I'm sure Katniss and Gale could keep both our families alive. They would think we are dead any way. This could be the only chance we would ever get -without being at risk of being killed- to put our plan into action.

As soon as we reach the fence, we pretty much wander around for a while, not really sure where to start. When we reach the rock, our old rendezvous point, you can see the explosion, and the fire, and the sadness. You can't help but feel guilty for leaving all those people, like it was somehow your entire fault that the whole explosion happened. But there was not enough time to rescue all the hundreds of people working to keep their families from starving to death.

That's what it is like in District 12. You either try so hard to keep your family from starving and working till you feel like you could drop dead, and in most cases your family goes to bed with empty stomachs any way. Or you don't try at all and starve to death. After a few minutes of watching the sad scene, we continue our trek to the mysterious District 13.


	2. Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE

~One week before reaping when Katniss is 16 and Gale is 18~

_My name is Katniss Everdeen... I am 16 years old... My best friend is Gale Hawthorne... I live in District 12... My father died in a mine explosion three days ago... I do not believe he is dead..._

I wake up to an almost vacant house. My mother is depressed because of my fathers' disappearance. She stares hollowly at nothing. She hears nothing. She feels nothing. And she notices nothing. I feel bad for Prim; she is trying so hard to tend to our dead-to-the-world mother. Prim either spends most of her time in her room, or trying to bring our mother back from the dead. And then there's me. I am sad, but I could be more sad. I honestly don't believe he is dead. I don't feel the hole of emptiness in my chest that I normally would. But then again, as he gets older they use him in the mines more, which means I don't get to see him as much. We have grown farther apart, but only a little.

I slowly get out of bed, trying to make sure that I don't disturb Prim. I grab a dark green shirt and chestnut brown pants, my fathers hunting jacket, and my hunting boots, and tiptoe downstairs. There is a small piece of cheese that Prim left for me. I wrap it up, and then slide out the door. My feet lead me to the forest before my mind knows where I'm going. Before I know it, I'm in the meadow by the fence. I slink under it, and see a tall, manly, solemn figure, standing by our rock. Gale. His beautiful face lights up when he sees me.

I run over to him, and he hugs me. It is a well-needed embrace, for both of us. We go and sit down on our rock. I sigh, "What do you want to do? Hunt, fish, or gather?"

"Why don't we go on a walk to the small hill? C'mon! We have all day to gather food! No need to rush!" I laugh at his reply. I agree, and we start our hike to the hill. It's a quiet walk, but I know Gale has something he needs to say. He has that look in his eye that tells me he needs to say something. I need to ask him something as well.

"Gale?" I ask.

"Hmm?" he grumbles.

"Do you believe they're dead?"

"No, not really. I mean," he pauses, a loss at words. "I-I don't feel like he is dead, but I'm sure he is. The men in the accident- you couldn't even tell who was who." I nod. "Why Catnip? What's wrong?" he asks when he sees the disappointment on my face.

"Nothing. I just don't believe they're dead. I don't feel that hole of emptiness I probably would. I seriously don't think they are dead." he nods, understanding what I'm talking about. Then we keep walking in silence.

By the time we reach there, the sun is not quite in the sky, but not quite sunrise either. The sky is a light baby blue with an orange tint to it. Beautiful. We sit down at the top of the hill, slightly tired from the forty-five minute walk. I sigh at the breathtaking view. The trees, the sky, everything is perfect. Suddenly, I am snapped into focus when Gale speaks.

"We could do it you know."

"What?" I ask.

"Take off. Live in the woods. You and I, we could make it."

"Yeah, but what about the kids? You have Posy and your brothers, and I have Prim." I reply.

"They know how to survive. I could teach Rory to hunt, and Prim is good at baking and all the homemaking things. Nothing really bad could happen. They're strong." I can tell he is trying really hard to convince me to go with him.

I think long and hard about this. It is true. Prim is good at all the cooking and motherly things. Gale could teach Rory how to hunt. Greasy Sae might be able to help out with Posy and make sure that all their stomachs stay away from a starving point. Many people adore Prim, so I'm sure they will keep them safe enough.

I turn to face Gale. I am looking into the beautiful, silvery, Seam eyes of my best friend. "I really think we could do it. If we take one week and gather everything they will need, like all the food, I think this really might work. I'm game." he smiles.

"Really? You are willing to go?" he asks hopefully.

"Yes, now let's change the subject before I change my mind!" I say, chuckling.

"Haha, alright. Wanna go hunting? Start gathering?"

"Sure," I shrug. We take off, leaving the conversation behind us.

By the end of the day, we had collected a good amount of game; four rabbits, two pheasants, and a squirrel. About enough to last the two families for about a couple of days. Gale and I traded a few extra squirrels for some bread and a small bag of potatoes, which added to the families food stock. We ended up dividing the game, bread, and potatoes evenly and began to walk back to our homes.

" So same time tomorrow?" I asked as we stopped in front of my house.

"Yep."

I smiled at him, and he smiled back. He pulls me in a tight embrace and whispers, "Thanks for coming with me, Catnip."

"I'm glad I could," I said with a smile.

Then, Gale did something I never would expect him to do. He grabbed my face in his hands, and pressed his lips against mine.


	3. Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO

_My name is David Hawthorne... Ash and I escaped the mine explosion three days ago... We are traveling to District 13..._

The shrill bird cry was abruptly cut off and I smiled in satisfaction when the pheasant dropped dead at my feet. The arrow half lodged in its neck. I pulled the arrow from its neck when I picked it up; brushing off the guts and blood from the tip of the arrow I place the arrow back into the quiver.

"Here's breakfast!" I call over my shoulder.

"Good." The voice behind me answered.

I turned around to find my good friend crouching down with his back to me. We figured we were far away enough, from traveling for three days, and I could see small puffs of smoke coming floating into the air in front of Ash. The smell of roasting herbs tickled my nose, and I smiled. Good, the herbs would go nicely with roasted pheasant.

I walked over to him, and looked over his shoulder to check on the food. Small sparks were beginning to form around the sticks, leaves and branches.

_We're off to a good start… _ I think happily as I glance at my catch. Only on day three and we had put a good amount of ground between us and District 12. A stab of homesickness stabbed me like a thorn. Worry crept over me like coal is engulfed by flames when lit. _I hope my family is ok..._ But then further we are, the better. But a Capital hovercraft could easily catch us in a blink of an eye.

"Gut the thing, will you?" Ash Everdeen's voice broke me away from my thoughts.

"Y-yeah, sure." I reply, still lost in thought. I began to walk around looking for a trustworthy sharp rock to use as a knife. I finally found one, but it was about a seven minute walk from our camp. On the short walk back, I picked up a few twigs that are good for making fires with. When I arrive, I pick up the pheasant in my bare hands, blood now dripping from the deep gash in his body, and with my new "knife" in my hand, I slice the animal, and continue to gut it. By the time I am finished, the spices are sizzling from the heat, and I quickly put the pheasant on the makeshift stove and the knife goes into my pocket. It hisses and sizzles as the heat reaches the pheasant. In about ten minutes the pheasant will be well enough to eat.

In the meantime, I stay here and watch it while Ash looks for more fire wood and other herbs. After a few minutes Ash returns. The pheasant is now done, so I pick it up with a stick and place it on another rock. I seize my knife from my pocket and slice the animal in half. I carefully hand one half of the pheasant to Ash and he takes it happily. I pick up the other half, and begin to chew on it. We eat in silence for a while; both of us don't want to talk about home. We already hunted so there is nothing to really to talk about without ending our conversation awkwardly. So we just eat.

Once we end our meal, Ash stomps out the embers and we pack up the little items they have (our arrows, quiver, remaining food, and my "knife"). Then set of at a steady pace in the opposite direction of District 12.

By now we have probably been walking for two hours, when I stumble over with a loud _Crash _and a quiet _Crack _and a small yelp. I grip my ankle and look up at Ash. He is knelt down beside me, trying to examine my foot.

"Are you OK?" he asks quietly.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Its just, my ankle, it really hurts," I reply.

"It looks like it could be broken. I will look around for some herbs and look for a good cast. Stay put, OK?" I nod. Within ten minutes Ash comes back and in one hand has a bunch of herbs, and in the other has two strong sticks. He walks over to me, sets down the herbs on my lap, and sits down. He pulls up my leg on his lap to examine it better, then he mumbles something. He is a man of few words, like me, but it is so easy for us to understand each other. I know he wants me to eat the herbs he brought, so I do.

The herbs taste extremely bitter and I fight back the urge to spit them out, but I know that if I don't eat them my ankle might get worse. So I choke down the herbs and wait for Ash to clarify what was wrong with my ankle. Ash scowled, but his eyes were still on my ankle.

"Not as bad as a broken leg," He answers gruffly.

I frowned. A broken ankle was one of the last things I needed when we had to travel to District 13.

"Can you put weight on it?" he asks me.

I stumble slowly to my feet, though gripping Ash's shoulder for support. When I put my foot on the ground. A small stab of pain erupts from my foot. But it could be a lot worse.

"I can put a little weight on it." I reply. He nods and helps me walk to the tree stump a few yards away.

"I think we can afford to rest here. You need it. We have come so far, and you really need a break. I'll take first watch," he insists. I lie down and watch him make a fire with the firewood we had collected earlier. I begin to drift off into sleep when two silhouettes of a person catch my eye.

Please review! I hope you are enjoying this story! Yay! We have posted a chapter a day! And sorry for the cliffhangers :l PLEASE REVIEW it would make my day! And it would encourage me to write more, and update faster

Thanks so much!


	4. Chapter 3

CHAPTER THREE

_My name is Gale Hawthorne… District 12 is where I live… I asked her to run away with me… I am in love with Katniss Everdeen…_

We both pull away, dazzled. She has a look of shock in her eye. I just smile, and to my surprise she smiles back.

"I've been meaning to do that for a long time." I say, mentally slapping myself. _How could you say something that stupid, Gale? _I think.

She chuckles, and says, "Well, I'm glad you finally did." We both just smile widely and start laughing.

"See you tomorrow then?" I ask. Wow, neither of us really knows how to talk in this kind of situation.

"Yup! See you tomorrow." She blushes, and walks inside to her house.

I watch her go inside, and then I turn on my heel and start the quick walk down the street back to my house. I must have a gigantic smile on my face when I walk in, because my mom says, "Alright. What's her name?"

"What? What are you talking about?" I ask.

"The girl!"

"Oh. Her- wait, what do you mean by girl?"

"The girl you're so happy about! I've never seen you smile this wide before."

"I have no idea what you are talking about."

She gives it up, but knowing my mother she will wait for a less convenient time to ask me more questions that are on her mind. I know she will ask me more later. I tread up to my room and collapse on my bed. I can't stop thinking about Katniss. We are leaving in less than a week. It will just be her and me. No other interruptions. I mean, not to be selfish or anything, but it will be nice just it being the two of us. What only seems like moments later -but what really is twenty minutes- my mom calls me down for dinner. _Dang! I forgot to save some of the food for when we leave! What am I going to say to her? What is Katniss going to think? Um, Catnip? I forgot we were running away together and fed my family with the food? No, I will sound like a complete idiot._

I sit down at the table and pretend nothing has happened. But of coarse my mom notices. She just decides to blurt it out to the rest of my family: "We have some very exciting news!"

"Oh! Mom! Please don't tell me you are going to have another baby!" shouts Vick. Rory and I start laughing. But then I realize what she is talking about and wipe the stupid grin off my face.

"Oh, no! It is nothing like that!" she pauses. I am preparing for the worst. "Gale has a girlfriend!" I can feel my cheeks turn a bright red.

"Oh mom!" I yell, irritated.

"Haha, Gale has a girlfriend! Hahaha!" shouts Vick. I give him one of my death stares, but that just makes him laugh harder. _Wow. I am so good at acting, I can make it actually look like I am really angry, when I barley am at all. _I look down at my plate of turkey and herbs. I continue eating. When I am finished, I stand up, take my plate from the table, and gently place it in the sink. Since it is 9:00, I decide just to go upstairs and go to bed. I pull open the drawer to my dresser, and pull out my pair of pajama pants that I have. I put them on and get in bed. In moments I fall asleep, thinking of Katniss.

I wake up extra early this morning, filled with anxiety to see Katniss. It is 4:28 and I decide to get some extra game; I am really restless. I jump out of bed, literally, but then Rory stirs in the bed next to me, and I remember that he is there, and quiet down. I open my drawer and put on the shirt and pants that are on top. I quietly run downstairs and grab my hunting boots and jacket, from the closet, and put them on. I grab a piece of cheese from the small, old, barley-even-working fridge. I dash out the door, and by that time it is 4:34. I sprint to the fence and glide under it. My feet then lead me in the direction to the rock. Well, our rock. It has been and always will be our rock. I make a detour to my snare line. In total I got three squirrels, two rabbits, and to my surprise, one deer. A pretty good haul already! Maybe I can make up from the food my family ate last night.

_I just hope Catnip won't mind…._

When I near the rock, by the position of the sun, I can tell that it is about 5 o' clock.Katniss sat on the rock, her back turned to me. She hadn't seemed to notice me yet, and I had the odd thought to hide behind a pine tree. So I leaned against the tree, watching Katniss stare out into the horizon. I could catch a glimpse of her beautiful gray eyes gazing into the distance and her angelic bronze hair glistening in the early morning sun. I could feel a warm tingle deep inside my chest.

Without even turning around, Katniss speaks, "I know you're there, Gale." I walk slowly from my hiding place.

"Nice to see you too, Catnip." I say.

I take my place beside Katniss and sit down beside her. My heart beating fast, and the tingle grew stronger.

_I hope she can't here my heart beating…._

She turns to look at me. Her gray eyes seemed foggy, and I could see pain flash threw her eyes. "What's wrong?" I ask her softly, in the same way I speak to an animal before I kill it.

"It'll just be hard. You know, leaving them." She whispers quietly.

The tingling sensation increased, and I could feel my fingers entwining with Katniss. I gave her hand a soothing squeeze. I leaned foreword, so our faces were only inches from each other.

_Please come with me… _

"Please, I know. It'll be hard, but we'll do it," I paused, gazing deep into her eyes. I could feel my body shaking, and I hoped she wouldn't notice. The tingle inside had grown to a vibration inside my chest.

"Together."

I leaned forward, so our faces are just centimeters apart, then she puts her lips against mine. The spark in my chest becomes fire, and it spreads through out my entire body, through my veins, down my spinal cord, all through me. I love it…

The fire is instantly extinguished as we broke apart, Katniss's eyes shined brightly and my heart fluttered inside me. Katniss and I gazed at each other for another moment, then she stood up.

"Come on, we're wasting hunting time." She said, but I could detect a breathless excitement in her voice.

"Y-Yeah." I stuttered, quickly gaining my composure, and I stood up as well.

Katniss smiled, and she walked to the edge of the trees. Motioning with an arm for me to follow, we crept into the forest. I slunk forward. I looked over my shoulder at Katniss, her eyes watchful for prey but every so often her eyes turned back to me. That's when our eyes met, but we both glanced away, then our eyes turned back to the woods.

I turned my gaze foreword, and I suddenly felt a wave of protectiveness. _Would it be wise for me and Katniss to run away together? We would be leaving our families, and what if they go after us? And if they did catch us, they could kill us, or worse. They could turn us into an Avox and have us serve the angry Capitol. _But I guess I don't need to worry about that now. I continue hunting and setting snares.

It's been about three hours and we decide to take a break for lunch. Katniss grabs my arm and drags me to a spot with a soft bed of grass and a willow. I take one of the squirrels from my game bag, and begin to make a fire to cook our lunch. Katniss sits down right next to me, and begins to skin the squirrel. We conclude making our lunch, and begin to munch on the juicy animal.

"Do you want to go on a hike to go get some strawberries?" I ask. It would be a good idea, considering our families will need money.

"Sure! We should leave now so we'll have plenty of time afterwards to get back." Katniss answers brightly. I nod, we both finish our meal and I stomp out the fire.

We walk in silence together, hand in hand, until we reach the wide clearing where the strawberry bushes were, and Katniss begins to pick some while I keep watch. Once we finished we had collected a good amount of strawberries, and I divide the game. I secretly give Katniss an extra rabbit for accidently feeding my family. We walk toward home.

By the time we get to the fence it's probably around three, and I know our families might be getting worried. Katniss intertwines her hand in mine and we walk through the meadow, across the bridge, and down the street, back to the Seam. Back to where our love is trapped, like a caged bird calling out for its mate.


	5. Chapter 4

_My name is Ash Everdeen… David and I ran off to find District 13… We are in the midst of our journey… I miss my family more than ever…_

I am about to sit down on a rock when David shakes my shoulder. He points at the shadows of two people. My blood freezes, and I only dare whisper.

"Who are they?"

I narrow my eyes to squint against the shadowed darkness. The two figures as I could make out were late teenagers. A boy and a girl, dressed in rags and their eyes brimming with fear, but what I noticed most was that their hands were joined together. I placed a hand on my bow that lay by my side. But I felt David's hand reaching it before me. I glared at him threw the darkness, my eyes sending a cold message:

_We have to take them out! For all we know they could be spies!_

The small shift of David's head signaled: No.

I pulled the bow away, readying the arrow so if they advanced, I'd be ready. But from the fearful look in the two peoples eyes told me that they didn't have any weapons, they were runaways, like us. A pang of guilt stabbed me. It would be wrong to kill two innocent people, but then, they could be spies.

"What do we do?" I whispered quietly.

David shrugged; I could see there were only two options. Kill, or don't kill. We decided to just lay low and not kill, seeing they didn't have any weapons, and were almost as helpless as us. We continue on our quiet quest to District 13, when someone spots us. I turn my head to face them, and see them pointing at us and mumbling something.

Now that we're closer we can see more of their distinct features: the two were dressed in faded clothing, the boy had short blonde hair, similar to the young baker boy in the Seam back home. He looked about eighteen years of age, and had moss colored eyes, and he stood protectively in front of the girl with a sharp stick in his hand. The girl had bright red hair, and flaming green eyes and looked about sixteen or seventeen. The boy was glaring at us savagely, but the girls' eyes were burning with fear. I cautiously take a step closer, then stop and turn to face David. His facial expression says that I'm doing correctly, taking extra precaution. I take another step foreword.

"S-Stay back!" the boy protested shakily, raising the stick in front of him.

"Don't worry," I reply, my voice calm. I could tell the two were scared out of their wits of us. "We're not going to hurt you."

The boy didn't look convinced, the girl seemed to believe us but she didn't move a muscle.

"Drop the bow."

I exchanged a quick glance with David who nodded. And I realized that I still had the bow in my hand. I follow orders and gently place the bow on the ground, along with the quiver full of arrows.

"Are you guys hungry? We have extra food, and are more than happy to share." I blurt out. I don't know what David will think of this, but they look like they could use some fuel. I really don't care if we give them food; I mean we could easily catch more if it's necessary.

The boy is unsure about trusting us, and I completely understand that, but the girl is nodding her head. "Alright."

The boy took a step forward, but his eyes kept glancing from my bow back to us, but he still clutched the girl's hand like the last life raft. I reached into my bag, and pulled out the remains of the pheasant.

I looked back at the group, and I noticed the girl look over the boy's shoulder hungrily. Her flaming green eyes ablaze at the sight of food. I smiled, and tossed the food into the boy's hands.

"I'm Ash Everdeen, and this is David Hawthorne." I said gently, gesturing for David to come foreword.

"I'm Amber, and he's Hunter." The girl answered, she turned to the boy who had split the pheasant into two pieces and took one of the pieces. The two began to tear at the food hungrily. We eat silently for a few minutes, and then I asked Amber asked a question.

"So, what are you guys doing out her? It's a little far from any of the districts."

I exchanged a glance with David.

"We were going to ask you two the same thing."

Hunter's mossy green eyes narrowed, but he looked down at his pheasant leg and kept eating.

"We escaped from District 12 on a journey to District 13." I say, sheepishly.

"That's interesting. We came from District 10. Our chances were too high of bring reaped. We didn't think we would make it this far, but it was defiantly better then being in the Games." He pauses, as if thinking and editing his explanation, and then continues. "Do you understand what I'm trying to say?"

I nodded.

"Exactly." I answered.

Amber raised an eyebrow questionably, but a friendly smile was sketched on her face.

"So? Was there any _other _reason you ran away?" Amber asked, her tone more friendly.

I glanced at David, and then turned back to Amber, and start from the way beginning. I tell them the whole story, from top to bottom, every single detail. They stayed quiet the entire time, and stayed silent when I finished, I guess soaking it all in.

"Where are you guys heading?" David asks, breaking the silence.

"We don't know, exactly, we just kind of... left." Replies Hunter.

"And, you weren't caught. You just…left?" David questioned.

Amber nodded solemnly, her fiery green eyes darkened for a moment and she turned to Hunter.

"Right?"

Hunter nodded and the two began eating again.

Once the two finished there meal, we lay out camp for the night. My eyes were beginning to grow heavy as I leaned against a tree trunk. Amber lay sleeping on a soft bed of grass while Hunter sat besides her stroking her shoulder gently, then caressing her face, and whispering some sort of soothing lullaby. He gives her a gentle kiss on the cheek, lies down, and puts his arm around her. Hunter looks at me, and I give him a smile. He smiles back, letting me know he trusts us.

**A/N: awww! What do you think of Amber and Hunter? Super cute, right? REVIEW! PLEASE! It will make my day! Thanks!**

**Love you all!**

**-hungergameslovers1316**


	6. Chapter 5

**Two days after, when they are going to leave**

_My name is Katniss Everdeen… I am sixteen years old… I am running away with my best friend… but maybe, he is something more…_

I wake up, having butterflies in my stomach, excited for the days events. Full of anxiety, I quietly get out of bed, grab a shirt and pants from the top of the drawer, and throw them on. I quickly re-braided my hair but every few minutes I caught myself fussing over it. I locked eyes with my reflection in the mirror. I hardly _ever _fussed over my hair wait, I _never _fussed over my hair and I couldn't ignore the way I saw my eyes sparkle when I thought of Gale. But I just shrug it off and walk downstairs.

I grabbed my hunting jacket from the chair and shoes from the old closet, put them on as fast as I could, then silently slipped out the door. I run as fast as humanly possible to the meadow, then my pace slows as I reach the fence. I slink under it then jog to the hollow log that keeps our bows and arrows. I grab my bow and quiver of arrows, noticing Gale took his already, and then head for our rock. _Our rock._ This thought brings a smile to my face. _Mine and Gales. _I can feel my smile growing larger, knowing what we're doing today. As I near the rock, I see Gale's solemn figure with his arms crossed over his chest, broad shoulders, soft face, calloused hands. The sun, just rising over the horizon, gleams on his face, almost makes him glow.

I sneak up behind a tree, draw my bow and aim right next to him, so the arrow would just brush his arm. I carefully let go of the string, causing the arrow to fly forward. Gale notices it just in time to dodge it and it zips right into the tree. He turns around, smiling, and pulls the arrow from the tree.

"Hey, Catnip." He says with a chuckle.

"Darn! I missed!" I teased. We both smiled at each other and Gale stepped closer to me, he leaned close and I felt his arm go around me.

"Well, if we are going to run away together, wouldn't you need me to be alive?" he snickered.

"Then your going to have to look over your shoulder every so often, just to make sure I don't kill you." I smirk.

Gale smiled at me, and I felt my heart flutter in my chest when I saw my own love reflected in his gray eyes. My stomach churned as my face moves closer to his. He smells of pine needles and fresh air, and when our lips touch I have the smallest vision of two brown haired, gray-eyed children running around the meadow. I smile. But as soon as the vision comes it vanishes like smoke behind my closed eyelids. Gale breaks away before I do, with a perplexed look on his face and I guess by my expression something looks out of ordinary.

"What you smiling about, Catnip?" he asked me.

"Uhh, nothing." I can't help the bigger smile that appears on my face.

"Yeah, like I'll believe that for one second."

I find myself staring at my hand, and I felt my face going slightly red. Gale put a hand under my chin and raised it up to his face, forcing me to look at him. His gray eyes brimming with concern. I look in another direction, trying to avoid his eyes.

"What is it?"

"OK, fine. I'll tell you!" I pause for the effect. "This may sound really weird, and selfish and stupid," Gale waits for me to go on, with a questioning look in his eyes. "I-I saw… I saw our future kids running through the meadow." When I finish I push Gale's hand away and stare down at my hands again.

_What an idiot! You weren't supposed to tell him how you felt about him! _I am surprised by his reaction.

"Katniss," he begins slowly. "That's _why _I want to run away with you. I want to be with you forever, and our children can grow up in the forest. I want to live a happy life, with no Capitol, no Games, just us." _Oh great. My tear ducts are acting up. _(a.k.a. crying). We are silent for a moment, my hand in his, on the rock. Then he continues talking. "Stealing is punishable by death, you know."

"What do you mean?"

"You stole my heart, Catnip. It belongs to you now."

The tears fall as rain down my face and nothing in all of Panem that could stop them from flowing. He uses his thumb to brush away the tears.

"Oh Katniss, don't cry. I-I know, that probably sounds _really_ corny, but that's how I feel abo-"

This time it's his turn to be surprised.

Without warning I fling my arms around his neck and gently put my lips against his. I could feel his body tense for a split second, which was obviously in shock, but it dissolved in a moment without hesitation. I feel his strong hands wrap around my waist and pull me closer to him. There seems to be a thunderstorm of emotions raging through my body, raining down into me and drenching my heart in an emotion I had never experienced before. Love.

But it's new love, not the kind of affection you feel for your relatives and family members. It's a kind of love that burns inside your body like an inferno, the kind of love that makes your head spin and your heart almost stop. I've loved Gale for a long time. But it was a different kind of love. That was the kind you would give to a family member. Now, a new flower has blossomed, giving me the love I have for Gale now, which is the kind you give to your lover.

We both pull away at the same time. "I love you, Gale. And not the kind of brother sister kind. The other one." He smiles.

"I love you, too."

"Hey, when do you think we should leave?" I ask, anxious.

"We could leave right now. Are you alright with that?" I nod, and wait for Gales instructions. "But before we go, I want to take you somewhere."

"Where are we going?"

"It's a surprise."

"Please tell me!" _Why can't he just tell me?_

"Nope." He gets up and walks away from our rock.

"Grrr!" I follow him; still upset he won't tell me where we're going. We are walking for maybe another hour. He says we are almost there, but I feel like we have been walking in circles. I speed up so we are walking side by side, and he puts his arm around my waist. I smile, all the playful anger suddenly vanishes. I put my arm around his back, only reaching half, him being so much bigger than me.

"Will you _please _tell me where we are going?"

"No, it's a surprise."

"Uhh! You are so stubborn!"

"Catnip, close your eyes."

"Why?"

"Just close them."

"Alright, alright. Gosh." I mumble. I close my eyes and cover them with both my hands.

I feel his strong hands on my shoulders, and I take a few cautious steps forward since I can't see anything past my closed eyes.

"Don't worry Catnip, I'm not going to lead you into anything." Gale says with a warm chuckle.

"Okay." I sigh reluctantly.

I keep my ears strained to pay attention to the surroundings that I can't see. Since my footsteps are slower and I walk heavier than I should, I need to keep the rest of my senses alert for any more dangers.

We come to an abrupt halt.

"Raise your foot up." Gale instructed.

"But-"

"Just do it."

I sighed and raised my foot up; sure enough there was a something for me to step up on. It _felt _something like a log, but I wasn't totally sure. I stepped up and felt Gale's grip tighten slightly on my waist. "Walk forward."

I did as instructed, and I heard the sound of wood creaking beneath my weight. _What am I doing?_

"Wait Catni-!"

Suddenly my feet were swept from under me, and I felt my face meet the pile of leaves, dirt, and grass. I raised my head from the heap of nature. I rolled onto my back, Gale stood balanced on a log that made a path across a small stream.

"You okay Catnip?" Gale asked me, but laughter was easily detected in his voice.

"Fine," I grumbled, scrambling up clumsily. I felt my cheeks burn with embarrassment, and I ducked my head away from Gale's gaze.

"But where is this place you wanted to show me so bad?"

"I told you, it's a secret." I stick my tongue out at him, and he just snickers.

"Fine, but at least help me up." With those words he hops off the log, and sticks his arm out. I grab his hand, and without warning jerks his hand back, causing me to fly forward into his arms.

"Gee thanks." I say sarcastically, and I rest my head against his chest. I can feel his heart beating. Slow but steady; _thump, thump, thump._

"I love you Katniss." He whispers softly before kissing the top of my head.

"I love you too," I answer quietly, raising my head to look up at his face.

"But if your going to kiss me every five minutes we won't be getting to this secret place any sooner."

I shrug.

"One more time won't hurt."

I feel my own heart rate speed up as he leans foreword and presses his lips against mine.

When we break apart, Gale is smiling at me. With his handsome gray eyes sparkling like sapphires.

"See? We still have traveling time left."

"Oh, be quiet." I teased gently, and leaned toward him again for another kiss. We pull away, still dazed.

"Are you trying to stall time?"

"What do you think?"

"Well, I wouldn't call it stalling. You seem to be enjoying it, too."

Gale sighs, and pulls me closer. I lean my head on his chest, enjoying the sound of his heartbeat. I also realize that with Gale I have discovered another feeling I have never before. I finally feel safe. Never in my life I have felt as safe as I have when I'm with Gale.

He kisses the top of my head, and I smile. Then the lyrics of 'Deep in the Meadow' pop in my head. I begin to hum the tune, having it stuck in my head. It kind of surprises me, that I can remember all of the words, and the tune, perfectly. I stopped singing it after a while, and now here I am singing it again. I say the final line a loud.

"Here is the place where I love you."

"You have an amazing voice, by the way."

"Nah, I don't agree."

"Whatever. Think what you want to think, but I'm right."

"Oh yeah? Who is to say that?"

"Everyone. Well, everyone that has heard you sing."

"Yeah, yeah. C'mon, seriously. Do you want to get to this 'secret place' or not?"

"Hey, I'm more eager then you are."

"Well then, let's _go_!" I say. He sighs, then leads the way again.

"OK, let's start again, shall we? Close your eyes."

I close my eyes and feel Gale's hands on my shoulders, leading me foreword. I take cautious steps foreword, but gradually we make it to this 'secret' place. But my eyes are still closed tight. We walk a little while further, then he take his strong hands off my shoulders. I am about to open my eyes and ask what's wrong, but then he speaks.

"You can open your eyes now, Catnip."

END OF CHAPTER FIVE

**Thanks so much for reading! Sorry it took so long, again. We are off for memorial weekend, so we might write more, but who knows. Any way, thanks again for reading, and now it is your job to review! So just click the button at the bottom of the page, and write something nice, then hit send review! Yay! Your mission will be complete! **


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

**Hey guys, sorry for the long wait. Lots of things going on. This is kind of a filler chapter, with the exception of a really evil cliffhanger :{D**

**Mwahahahahaha! Enjoy! And PLEASE REVIEW! And also, I totally forgot to do this in all the other chapters, but I'll start doing this now (if I remember) **

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING EXCEPT THE IDEA, NONE OF THE CHARACTERS ARE MINE. Except for Hunter and Amber.**

_My name is David Hawthorne… We are running away from District 12… We met two other run-aways from District 10… They are our allies…_

"So, like this?"

Hunter released his hands on the snare he was tying so I could inspect it. We both knelt on the ground. I was teaching Hunter how to tie a snare that would catch a rabbit or two, while Ash was teaching Amber how to skin an animal and how to find the right herbs to cure a stomach ache, how to dress a wound, basic stuff.

"Perfect." I answered.

I smiled, Hunter was a quick learner and he was extremely eager and determined now that we were on a friendly basis.

"Now try again. This time _without _my help." Hunter groaned, smiled, then started over. I turned to face Ash and Amber, just to check on their progress. They were laughing. Surprised, Hunter turned his head to face them, and smiled. I nudged him with my elbow and he turned back to the snare.

"S-sorry." Hunter muttered, his head ducked with embarrassment.

I smile, and put a hand on his shoulder he looks up at me, his cheeks still red.

"Don't worry, I've had the same experience. It's nothing to be ashamed of."

"What do you I-I have no idea what you're talking about." Hunter insists.

"C'mon, you know exactly what I'm talking about." His blush turned to a slightly deeper red, and he turns his gaze down to the snare.

"Its kind of obvious," Hunter said softly. I nod. "Isn't it? That I…" his voice trailed and he exhaled deeply before continuing, "_Love_ Amber." I nod a second time, reassuring him.

I chuckle, "Yeah, but don't worry." I pause, "She loves you more than you'll ever know."

Hunter looked up at me his green eyes hopeful, and I had the faint image of my own children gazing up at me and I was back home, with the people I loved. But it vanished almost as soon as it came. But the wave of protectiveness that soon followed crashed into my heart, and I knew instantly that I had to protect these kids.

"You think so?"

"I _know _so." I answered with a smile.

Hunter smiled back at me. But then he glanced at Amber before speaking again.

"Do you think…Um, I mean, that we could finish the lesson early?" he asked me hopefully, and the bright eagerness that flashed behind his eyes made me nods my head instantly.

"Thanks!" he said happily, and the young teenager stood up and raced over to Amber. His green eyes bright and shining like the sun.

I didn't catch what Hunter said and Amber's answer, but I _did _notice Amber standing up, giving him a hug and the two teenagers running to the camp, while Ash makes his way over to me.

"Cute little love birds, huh?" I say with a smile.

"Ha, yeah. They're cute kids. Sorta remind me of our bunches back home." We both smile.

"Wonder how they're doin' back home." I say.

Ash shrugged.

"I guess we'll never know." We both turn to face "the kids" just to find Hunter showing off for Amber. Since our camp sits right next to a small river, he is attempting to fish with his hands. I watch him as he leans over the edge of the water on a straying stepping stone. My shoulders start shaking with laughter when Amber pushes Hunter's shoulders and he plummets head first into the water with a large _splash!_

With this happening, all three of us are arched over, hands on knees, laughing with every last breath we have in our lungs. Next thing you know, Amber is on the ground, rolling around. Whenever we try to stop laughing, we see the look on Hunter's face, and that sets us off again. Finally, after what seems like eons of laughter, it eventually dies down and we go to help Hunter out of the cold liquid, and I hand him my jacket, to dry off. I start a fire, and we all gather around it. It's so funny watching Hunter try and keep a large scowl on his face, while Amber has a grin from ear to ear, and Ash's shoulder would not stop shaking.

But then Ash and I both go silent when Amber sweeps in towards Hunter and gently kisses his cheek. That's when Hunter's face goes bright red and his eyes have a slightly dazed expression.

"Go on! Just kiss her!" I yell-whisper in Hunter's direction. He sticks out his tongue at me, then faces Amber.

"Amber, I love you." Then kisses her, full on the lips. Ash and I give our fair share of _oohs _and _ahhs, _and then I whistle to give it the full affect. Hunter's fingers intertwine with Amber's fiery red hair, pulling him closer to her. I have to look away; for their own privacy. Ash and I turn to face the other way, grabbing the game bag and a knife, and begin to skin an animal. I glance at Ash, a wide grin spreading across his face, the game to at his side and the empty game bag in his hands. He put a finger to his lips and I nodded.

With one quick motion, Ash chucked the bag in Hunter's direction, causing both teenagers to fall to the ground a good foot and a half apart.

"That's enough kissing for one day." I grunt but I can't hide the laughter from my voice.

"_Come on!"_ Hunter protests, his green eyes bright with his newly found love.

"_Please!"_ Amber begged, her green eyes big and pleading.

I exchanged a quick glance with Ash, who nods.

"Fine, but you guys will do that_ stuff_ while we are gone, understand?" They both nod their heads.

"Do you guys want to go hunting,_ right_ now? And make sure you take as long as you need to." Amber pleads.

Hunter nods.

"Yeah, you guys need the um…Exercise."

I sigh.

"Lets go, Ash." I turned to face the kids. "Skin some animals, while you're at it."

They both nod solemnly.

I turn away from them and begin walking up the slope that led to the thicker trees. I hear quiet footsteps behind me, and figure Ash is following. We suddenly leave the real world, and vanish into our own universe of hunting. Zoning everything out, only listening to our surroundings and paying attention to the area around us.

We're just vanishing into the trees when a bright light flashes at the edge of my vision. I look up to see a bright red hovercraft looming over us, wind blows the leaves into a cyclone around our feet, and I only have a few seconds to turn and ready my bow.

"Wait!" Ash's voice is barley an echo beside the noise of the engines.

"They're not aiming for us!" Finally snapping into reality, I realize whom they are aiming for. The real world slaps me in the face, and before I know it I am running as fast as I can back to the camp. We see it, just as it is happening. I can't believe what just happened. I'm shocked. The whole world stops before us.

**Haha! Told you it was an evil cliffhanger! PLEASE REVIEW AND I WILL GIVE YOU A HINT AS TO WHAT THE CLIFFHANGER IS! And sorry I have not replied to any of the reviews. I just wanted to say thanks so much for all of the nice things you guys have said in the reviews. Does anyone read these anyway? Any way, thanks for reading! Until next time, muchacho.**


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

_My name is Gale Hawthorne… My fathers 'died' in a mine explosion… I am running away with Katniss Everdeen…_

"You can open your eyes now, Catnip." I gently release my hands that were covering her eyes.

I hear her gasp at the sight that lay before us. It was a small rock cave, chipped into a mountain, and thick blueberry bushes concealed the entrance. A small creek was woven around the perimeter. There were trees (duh) and patches of flowers surrounding the creek. Everything was laying on a small meadow. It is a beautiful scenery.

My father and I used to go here all the time. We would spend hours out here, and sometimes even days. Many of my father's memories were made here. The train of memories dashes by as I see myself when I was fishing with me dad to the last time we came here when I was ten or eleven, camping out. The train disappears as a female voice interrupts my thoughts.

"Gale? Gale! Hello? Any body in there?" She is jumping in front of me, trying to get my attention.

"Oh! Right. I forgot. You're here." I say with a fake scowl. She sticks out her tongue at me, and I can't help but laugh.

"Hey, what do you want to do?" she asks.

"We could put our feet in the creek, eat blueberries, hunt, or we could _relax. _You pick."

"Uhh! Why do I have to pick what we do? You are the one that brought me here, _you_ should pick what we do."

"Yeah, and I pick that you pick what we do."

"Grrr! You make this so difficult!"

I grin.

"That's why I'm h "

She cuts me off mid-sentence with a kiss. I think she was aiming for it being quick but we both can't help ourselves and we end up staying like this for a bit. We finally pull apart, and finally being able to stop. She smiles at me and I see my own smile reflected in her eyes. Her gray eyes sparkling with excitement.

"Seriously, what do you want to do?" I ask.

"Wanna go hunting? I could use some lunch. How 'bout you?" I nod, and grab our bows and arrows. I swiftly hand her the ones that belong to her. She smiles and slips the quiver of arrows around her shoulder. I follow suit, and we end up walking into an area filled with birds. They are dropping to the ground, dead, left and right, as our arrows collide with their bodies.

After maybe about ten minutes in that one area, we run out of arrows and we need to go scavenge for our old one. I pick up a few birds with my arrows in them and pull them out. After a couple minutes of doing the same thing, we have collected all twelve arrows. I gently place the many birds in my game bag, and the arrows and quiver, and we retreat back to our camp. _I still can't believe this is all real, that I actually got Katniss to come with me, _I think.

When we reach the camp, the sun is well in the sky; you can tell it's a little after noon. I sigh, still unable to grasp the realization that it's all real.

"Here. You can start skinning them." I plop down on a soft bed of grass, and lean my back against a rock, and throw the game bag at her. She lets it fall and says,

"Oh, so you're making me do all the manly work with all the blood and guts, while you get to relax?" she sighs putting her hands on her hips.

"Yep!" I nod, half expecting her to throw the game bag at me and yell, but she does the complete opposite. She shrugs, grabs the game bag from the ground from which it fell to, motions for me to hand her my knife, which I do willingly, then drops down next to me and begins to pluck feathers, and later, skin them. I smile. She still wears a scowl, but she is beautiful when she is angry.

"I'll be back." I'm gonna go get some sticks for a fire.

"Where are you going?" she asks, dropping her work for a second.

"I figured I'll make myself useful and go gather twigs for a fire."

"Good idea. Don't go too far." She continues her work, and I head off.

I begin gathering twigs for a fire, like I had promised Katniss. It doesn't take long to find enough sticks to create a decent fire, so I decide to wander off a little. The scenery is so amazing. The sun is just peeking out of a gathering of clouds, causing a small streak of sunlight to shine on the forest floor. The trees are a lush green and are so tall, seeming to be brushing the sky. I tread along, admiring the earth around me, thinking.

_I wonder how my family is doing. I wonder if Rory or Prim's name was called by our bubbly, frilly, high self-esteemed, District 12 escort. I hope they are ok._ I keep pondering, _what if they were reaped? They would probably just walk into the arena and get killed in the bloodbath._ I wince at the thought. _I wonder how Katniss is holding up with the chance that Prim was reaped._ This thought snaps me back to reality, and I decide I should go back to our "home" now. I feel like its only been a few minutes, but you know how fast time flies.

As I start my small walk back to our camp, I find an injured mockingjay. Not really knowing what I should and shouldn't do, I take off my vest, gently placing the small stash of twigs in it, carefully grasp the bird and lay it next to the sticks. I hold the jacket carefully, not wanting to injure the bird even more than it is. I soon reach the clearing where our little camp is, and as if on cue Katniss starts jogging towards me, her eyes filled with fear.

"What's wrong?" I question.

"You were gone so long, I-I thought something happened to you. Are you OK?"I nod.

"Yeah, just got a little lost in thought, that's all. How long was I gone?"

"Maybe a little less than an hour. Ooh! What's that?" she asks in a childish way, and gestures to the pile of things in my vest.

"Oh," I gently move it to a position which will able her to see it. "The twigs. I also found an injured mockingjay and I figured we could save it. I didn't know what else to do." I shrug, and she smiles. I look at her with a questioning look. "Or I figured we could put it out of its misery now."

"Why would we do that? Why take away a life when we could save one?"

"Yeah, it was just a suggestion. I wasn't really leaning toward that one either."

"Good, so let's play doctor for the day." Katniss replies with a large grin on her face, and I return the smile back.

I gently place the injured bird on the ground in front of us and Katniss takes the sticks and piles them beside the fire. The mockingjay lays sprawled out with its left wing jutted out at an awkward angle. Katniss leans over my shoulder and runs her fingers softly over its left wing.

"Lets name him Ralph,"

I stare at Katniss's face, to check if she was joking. But her wonderful face was solemn, and I could tell she wasn't joking.

"Or do you think we should name him Bob?"

I sighed.

"You are a strange woman Catnip."

She completely ignored my comment.

"Or do you think George would be a good name?"

"I think "

"Wait! Is it a girl or a boy?"

"Catnip. I was gonna say "

"oh Oh OH! Lets name him Sam. Yeah, I like Sam. Sam is "

"Catnip! Listen to me!" she gives me a death stare as if talking will kill Sam/Bob/George/Ralph. "I think it would be best to give him/her a name _after _we mend its wing."

"Ok, but I still think he should be named Sam."

"This is going to be a long operation."

"There! All finished." Katniss holds up the bird with a piece of tattered cloth around its wing with pride.

"Great job, Dr. Everdeen." I said lazily. She did the whole thing, and practically shoved me out of the way every time I tried to help. After about half way through, I gave up trying to help and sat by a rock. I think I fell asleep…

When I woke up, the sky was a purple peach, well technically behind tree's silhouettes the sky was peach with the sunset and there was the arch where the sky gave way to the purple night. Newborn stars twinkled faintly in the darkening sky.

"How long was I out?" I asked Katniss: she lay beside me, her head resting on her elbow and the mockingjay tucked slightly under her arm. The birds head tucked under its wing.

"12 hours, but don't worry. You needed the sleep," She replied softly, her gray eyes soft as she stroked the mockingjays feathers.

"Catnip. I think we should change Sam's name to "

"Wait! I forgot! We never decided if it is a boy or a girl! Quick! Think of something!" she jumps up.

"Well, if it's a boy then we can name him Rory, if it's a girl: Primrose. How does that sound?"

"Yeah, I guess. But what about Sam? And George? And Ralph? And Bob?"

"Fine! Have it your way!" I stick my tongue out at her jokingly.

"Hey, when was the last time you ate? I ate while you were sleeping, but it's been like all day for you."

"Yeah, I guess it was all day. What's for dinner?"

"Well, we made an enormous catch today. I was gonna eat it all, but I decided you got the sticks for the fire that cooked the meat, so it would only be fair to let you have some."

"Yeah, thanks for thinking of me, Catnip." I say with sarcasm. I smile.

"Your welcome. I'll make your dinner." And just like that, she gets up and leaves. I lay on my back, admiring the beautiful night. I watch the moon rise, the sky darken, turning from a peachy-purple to a dark blue. It's turning so slowly, as if a snail was pulling a shade down, making it darker and darker. The stars are waking up from a nap, getting brighter and larger. The trees surrounding the clearing where we stay are turning darker shades of green. It's peaceful. I feel my eyes getting heavy, the invisible heat waves that pulse from the fire are hypnotizing, it's so warm, so soothing, but I know I have to eat, but I'm so_ tired. _But Katniss comes to the rescue.

"Gale. Dinner's ready. Come over here." I crawl over to where Katniss has put the fire. She hands me part of a bird and I plow through it in less then two minutes. She hands me another piece, and same thing again and again. We eat till we can't hold another bite. This is the first time in forever that we have been full.

"Where are we going to sleep?" she asks me. I honestly haven't thought much about this. Then I think of one time I went with my dad, we slept in a small cave covered by undergrowth.

"I know where. C'mon. Follow me." I get up and clean up the things from dinner, then walk toward a small rock I remembered that I used to mark where the entrance was. I move some branches and crawl through the small hole used by me when I was younger. I sigh. I remember coming here when I was with my father.

I squeeze through the entrance and stand up. It's about the size of the base level in my house, width and height. There is a little hole in the top where light shines through, except there is no light shining through now because it's dark outside. There are a few big rocks here and there, and small shrubs growing along the cracks, but other than that it is just empty space. I step out of the way and stick out my hand to help Katniss in. She stands up next to me and gasps at the sight.

"It's…." her voice trails off, and now she is gazing at the floor. A small drop of water drips off her cheek catching the sun's light and making them sparkle like tiny stars. That's how I know she's crying and I embrace her into my chest, tiny sobs wrack her body and I hug her tightly.

"Love. Why are you crying? I didn't say anything stupid this time. Well, I guess what I just said was pretty stupid but…. Oh, what's wrong?" I whisper gently to her.

"Nothing's wrong. This is just too perfect. Everything right now is too perfect. Me being here with you, here in this cave, just…everything." Her lips curl up into a smile.

"Well, Catnip, I'm glad I can make you happy." I smile. Everyday, just making Katniss smile, blows me up in flames. It makes me so happy, just to make her smile. It brightens my day.

She sits down and that reminds me how tired I am. "Sleep?" I ask her. She nods, as a simple response. I was afraid she might not get to sleep, with worry filling every fiber in her body, that Primrose Everdeen might have been the name that was called earlier today.

I walk over to a corner of the small cave and sit down. While reaching for the bag, Katniss makes her way over here. In the bag, I find a thin blanket, pull it out, and drape it over us. I throw the bag further away, and lay down. I am surprised by Katniss's next actions, as she lies down next to me and puts her head on my chest. I wrap my arm around her, and within a few minutes, you can hear her slow, steady breathing, signaling that she sleeps.

_**End of Chapter Seven**_


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

**Oh My Gale! I'm so sorry it took this long to post this! I have some excuses, if you will accept them. One of the authors was all the way across the country for a month (SO sorry fans ), with no way of communication, except cell phones, and that really hard to write a story over. Second, my mom had a baby. That's kinda hard to push out of the way to write a story. Third, it's EXTREMLY hard to write a whole three-page chapter, full of pain. If you don't believe me, you should try it yourself. ANY WAY…HUNGER GAMES RULES! **

**Enjoy! **

**Please Review!**

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_My name is Amber Ross… I am in love with Hunter … We are runaways from District 10… We escaped and made it alive all the way to District 12… The unthinkable just happened…_

It hit me like a bullet.

I was in the most perfect moment I could ever ask for. Ever since the beginning I was preparing for it to happen soon, but not this soon. I figured when we made the decision to leave that we would probably die within the first week of running. But we were wrong. We lasted a month or so, and that got our hopes up. We slowly started to think that now that we came this far, nothing could ever stop us from going any further, or at least slow us down. But yet again, we were wrong. The unthinkable happened. Well, the unthinkable meaning we weren't thinking it at the time. But way before that it popped into our minds, then quickly vanished.

I sit there in silence, having so many things to say, but not having any way to put them out of my mouth in the right way I want them to. I am speechless. It all happened so quickly: We were sitting there on the log, the fire gleaming with life, Hunter and I looking into each others eyes, saying nothing, having nothing to say. The sky was alive with the colors of sunset, small stars coming to life, nocturnal animals slowly creeping out of their hiding places. Then I noticed it. The winds grew stronger. The trees swayed with such strength it looked as if they could all topple over. The slight hum mixed with the songs of birds. They all lead to one conclusion.

A hovercraft.

Hunter seemed to notice it too, as he got up to run, quickly grabbing my hand, and before you knew it we were flying across the forest floor, trying to escape as hasty as we could. If you think this is bad enough, wait to see what else happens.

Then there was a scream.

I realized it was my own, but too wrapped up in the situation to understand what other things I was doing unconsciously. Hunter's grip on my hand was suddenly released. I fell to my knees, as everything happened in a blur around me. I stopped dead in my tracks, turned around to where Hunter's hand instantly let go of mine, to find the body of the man I love, laying on the earth, looking almost as normal, but it was hard to avoid the spear plunged in his chest. Quickly dropping to my knees and pulling him up onto my lap, I began screaming, sobbing, mourning in agony, as the boy I loved bled to death in my arms. Using a lot of effort, he spoke.

"I love you so much. I want you to know that. You are always in my mind, no matter where I'm going, or what I'm doing. Always remember that you are the sunshine in my life, the color to my rainbow, the songs the birds sing. Even though my body may not be here, my spirit will live on in the sound of wind blowing in the trees, the effortless cries of the animals we'd hunt. I'll live on forever in your heart. You can never really stop loving someone; you just learn to live without them. You're the only reason I'm not afraid to fly. Always remember that I love you." The whole time he says this he looks at me directly in the eye, and his mossy green ones are filled with tears, like a volcano wanting to explode. He lets a single tear slide down his left cheek. His cold hands touch my face in a loving gesture.

"Always, Love you." I breathe and he smiles his cute, adorable, entrancing smile. I'm almost at a loss of words.

Pondering of this is enough to explain what I mean, I gently press my lips to his, and luckily, it says it all. I swear, not only this time, but also all the times we kiss the whole world turns upside down. Passion, longing, sorrow is all that was said in that small conversation between us. We both pull away with tears streaming down our faces, holding each other like a lifeline. I reach up to his forehead and brush away a few strands of hair that has grown down to his eyes, covering them slightly. His lips curl up into a sad smile. I clutch his hand and dread the moment when I finally have to let go {and yes, I got that from the ending of the first book Deal with it!}.

I could not stop the tears from pouring down my cheeks, but I wasn't crying because I know I'll never see him again, or that I'll never be able to see his bright and happy green eyes again. But it's that each little second of his life is ticking slowly away, and that my beloved Hunter will never get to see the light of day again. And it's the thought of having to continue this journey without him when he was the whole reason I did.

I hear the soft pitter patter of footsteps, not even bothering to turn around, not caring if they are peacekeepers with weapons the size of half of my body. If the whole world were to collapse right now, it wouldn't even matter. My whole world already _has_ collapsed. With Hunter so close to gone I don't know what I will have to look forward to every day, seeing his face after the sun peeks out from beneath the horizon each morning, or the way his hair moves when he laughs. My loving Hunter will be gone, and there's nothing I can do about it.

I miss him already. Watching him slowly die by blood loss isn't helping the fact that I will have to continue this without him. Now that I am realizing this, I wish I had told him I love him sooner than later. The tears are stinging my eyes, making its almost impossible to see his face. Impossible, but I did it. I release my grip on his hand, cause I think he's dead; his eyes are closed and I think his chest had frozen forever in place.

But he's not.

Hunter's eyes flutter open, and he grasps my hand so strongly I know he's alive and _fighting _the death. I didn't even know that was humanly possible.

He did it though.

"D-Don't g-go." his voice cracks and he seems like he wants to cry but doesn't have enough strength too. He grips my hand harder.

"I won't Hunter," my voice is rising to a scream and panic cracks my voice. "I'll never ever leave you."

Shadows creep up behind me and crawl onto Hunter's face, onto the bridge of his nose, across his cheeks, making the ice-looking tears grow darker, and almost making them disappear. And then a cold hand is placed on my shoulder. I don't even have to look up to know that it is Ash, his hands familiar to me from all the hours he spent teaching his tricks to survival.

"Amber, Oh Amber, I-I'm so sorry." Ash's deep voice goes off closer than I expect, right by me, but I can't look away from _him_. Not ever. I lean down and kiss Hunter's forehead.

My last and final tear falls onto his cheek it rolls down his now pale face, my tear colliding with his own. Finally seeping down the side of his face and vanishing into the grass forever. I caress his cold face, burning his features into my mind like setting wood on fire, never being able to turn back. To forget. But I can't, I promised him; I can't ever forget.

_He's…gone…_

The pain is so strong I almost collapse, its as though burning hot claws were ripping half of my heart out, as though the gates of hell were opening and swallowing up each memory, feeling, and whisper from him. My whole world seems to crack like a broken mirror, each piece falling to the ground and shattering each and every memory of him…only to be picked up and sent away, just out of my reach. My whole body numbs over and I can't _feel_ _anything_. Nothing, no pain, no emotion, not even the ground beneath my feet, my eyes are glued to his face. Then I'm falling, falling into blackness I hope. Unconsciousness, emptiness, hell for I care.

But in the blackness, I crack.

I know he's never coming back.

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**See? It was really sad! And it would be really hard to write it, especially cause we are jolly, happy people 99.9% of the time. REVIEW! We are going to camp the next week, so we will not be able to update, or write at ALL for a whole week, which is kind of sad. There is NO Wi-Fi, and zero computers. I'm sad. But we will try to update really soon after that! LOVE YOU GUYS!**


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

**Hey guys! We're back! I especially love this chapter, and you will find out why in just a few minutes. Any way, sorry for the long wait. It is about six pages in Microsoft Word, so this is I think our longest chapter so far. Enjoy!**

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_My name is Katniss Everdeen…. I am sixteen years old…. I'm running away with George/Ralph/Sam/Bob and my best friend… Can I even call him that any more?_

My stomach twisted and rolled around like a restless sleeper, goose bumps had formed up and down my arms, and the hair on the back of my neck was on end like an enraged cat. I stood with the others sixteen-year olds and I can tell by their nervous looks they're as worried as I am. I can't look for Gale's face among the crowed; my eyes are just glued on Effie Trinket's hand as it reaches slowly into the round glass bowl. Everyone in the Square holds they're breath and for a single moment my heart stops.

Effie Trinket's hand reaches into the bowl full of names, I'm shocked, of all the names you could have picked. My heart instantly stops beating. Her name is called.

"Primrose Everdeen!"

The name rings through the silent Square, no one moves, no one speaks. I'm not even sure anyone breathed. At least I couldn't. But I'm not there, I realize, and the panic bears down on me like a thousand bloodhounds and every face around me transforms and morphs into, what was it? Something blood-chilling. Devils. Devils with blood dripping from their mouths and glistening crimson horns sticking out of their heads. Devils are boring down on me with icy claws, leering and smirking and laughing, cause I'm not there. I'm not there to save Prim, little Primrose, who will get ripped up in the blood bath. Everything is numb and I stagger to floor, but even that seems traitorous now. I should be protesting, biting and kicking and scratching.

Not her, Not her, Not her, Not her, Not her…. I keep repeating in my head as her fragile little body staggers up on stage. That…demon Effie Trinket grabbing her hand and holding it up for the entire Seam to see. All of District 12 gazing up at her tiny tear-stained face.

It's her! The devil's leer at me as blackness begins to cloud my vision. They sneer and laugh and point like the devil's they are. Laughing in my face.

Ha! Ha! She got chosen for the games, and your not there to help her! Their gleeful cackles echo off the walls of darkness.

Then, I see glimpses of a television, or a screen. With a single hologram floating on it. It's Primrose's battered bloody, dead body being carried off into the graveyards. Her high shrill scream explodes through the darkness, and I'm struggling, struggling to reach her, to save her from whatever thing was going threw her heart; Spear, Dagger, Arrow, Axe. Or worse being strangled to death by another tribute, or caught in a net with a spear through her chest, or even a pack of wolves ripping her flesh to pieces.

"NO!" I scream as loud as I can, it rips my lungs raw and I claw at empty darkness. The devil's still leer and laugh at me, but soon their cries begin to fade and I'm lost in a floating darkness. I've lost Prim…

I jolt awake. Sitting up, the graphic image still stitched between my every thought, my every breath. This is defiantly not as easy as I had thought. Gale slept soundly beside me, he had been sprawled out on the cave floor while I was snuggled into his side. He was still sleeping, grunting every so often in his sleep.

Beads of sweat are on my neck, forehead, and the small of my back. My hands are balled up in tight fists. Every thought, fiber, cell in my body are awake and running with adrenaline. Then, a wave of fear, worry that Prim would be taken away from the world within a week's time, crashes on me, with full force. I crawl up against the side of Gale's body. My body wracks with sobs. I place my hand over my mouth to muffle the sobs, hoping I don't wake Gale up with the loud, obnoxious noise. With much crying and effort, I find sleep. Again. But the devil's return.

I'm running, running fast, and running hard. I'm running through a dimly lit forest, and I could hear the steady pound of feet behind me. Something bad is chasing me and I'm… carrying something? Muffled whimpers are coming from my baggage, and with a sickening jolt I'm caught off guard.

"Prim?" I choke out, for that's all I can say since cramps are beginning to wrack my body.

"K-Katniss?" she whimper's softly and her eyes flutter open. There's a bad wound on her head, it seemed to be bleeding. A lot.

"P-Prim, Primrose I'm right here." I reply quietly.

Prim makes the tiniest of smiles, and her hugs my shoulders tightly. "You've saved me."

I hear the sound of pursuit inches closer than before, and I try to quicken my pace luckily Prim's not very heavy after been through a part of the Games. With a jerk I knew what was happening. I was running through the Arena with Prim on my back, trying to escape our pursuers. Somehow I had gotten into the Arena with Prim and I was keeping her save, but they caught me and are sending something after us. I had no idea how I knew this, but it felt as easy as breathing. I sprinted threw the woods like a horse, the familiar woods seemed like the back my hand to me as I run. I could hear the footsteps softening, and I run faster. They are almost gone! Prim gasps, as she sees something I cant. I'm looking around, my head whipping from side to side, my braid averting around and smacking my face in the process. While looking for the atrocious predator, something slips under my foot, causing me to loose balance and fall flat on my face. Prim shrieks and slips out of my grasp, following in my footsteps.

She turns to me as quick as she can, screaming, "Katniss!" I shift my head to see what she is looking at. Just then, a man with blonde hair (A/N: It's supposed to be Cato, not Peeta. Don't freak out) raises his hand, which possesses a knife. He brings his hand down. Prim's blood-chilling scream cuts through me as though I've been slashed in two. I can only see the man's blazing blue eyes as he plunges the dagger through my heart.

I start awake, my body cold with fear and sweat beading on my neck and face. I could feel Gale's intense stare sweep over me, and I stare at him. A sudden fear crept over me; would Gale turn into a devil too? But I caught myself that was the stupidest thing I had ever heard, or thought of for that matter. Gale would never turn into a devil that was just a dream. He is staring back at me with a look of deep concern, and suddenly I find myself sobbing loudly into his shirt.

"I'm fine." I say. I'm still trying to convince myself that I am, I doubt Gale will believe it. His fingers gently stroke my hair.

"You sure? It seems more of an understatement."

"Gale!" I punch his shoulder.

"Ok, sorry. That was mean. No time for joking. I get it," His voice is amused, but concern flickered behind his handsome eyes.

"So? Do you want to talk about it?" he asks me gently while rocking back and forth on his tailbone. I glared at him, his voice sounds as relaxed as though we were going to pick raspberries back home. But even that tiny thought makes my stomach twist.

"Do you really think I would want to talk about it? I'm crying my eyes out, and you want me to talk about it?! Are you serious?"

"Yeah! I mean, it's a friendly gesture. Doesn't everybody do that when someone's crying? Don't they usually say 'Do you want to talk about it'?"

"Whatever." I say, trying to change the subject, but I can't help but let a small smile grow on my face.

"So… What do you want to do? The whole world is ours now. We don't have to worry about school, feeding our families, the reaping, or any of that junk. We can do whatever we want." I think by the way he said whatever, he was implying on something completely opposite of what I was thinking.

"Well, I'm kind of tired of hunting. This is the first time we don't really need to worry about keeping a food on the table. One, we don't need as much food, and two, we don't have a table. So, that kind of leaves out the idea of hunting for today. We could look for berries and such, but that's not very fun." I sigh with exasperation of thinking. "And I guess we could just relax, have fun, be ourselves. What are your ideas?"

He sighs. "Well, I was thinking that we could climb a tree." He says without looking at me, his gaze is on something past me.

I turn around, and the first that flashes threw my mind is; it's huge. A giant oak tree probably the size of the Justice Building back home is there. It's branches thicker than a human, its leaves brushing the sky, and it's easy enough too. Handholds to climb up, but the first large branch big enough for a person is a good 20 feet in the air. It's so…..intense.

"Holy freaking crap! That's a tall tree!" the words come out before I can stop them. Gale is finding handholds for the tree, and he's already halfway to the first branch. I can't help but stare at his strong muscled body, climbing up the tree, his muscles flexing each time he pulls himself up onto another branch.

"Katniss! Hurry up! Are you coming, or not?"

"Y-yeah. I'm coming." Snapping out of my gaze, I find myself easily catching up to Gale, and within a minute or two, I am at his heels, waiting for him to go faster. With his stronger body, it's hard for him to pull up more weight.

"Hurry up! What's taking so long?"

"Its kind of hard to pull more weight, cause, if you haven't notice, I weigh a lot more than you do."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. You also have more muscle than me. Oh, and, you might want to watch where you put your hand." Just as I say this, he places his hand over a red ant. As a reflex, the ant bites him, making Gale fling his hand backward, almost falling over. I place my hand on his leg, hoping and praying that it will help him stay on the tree, so I won't have to fix a hand, and a broken body tonight. Luckily, he catches himself before he would plummet to the hard earth.

"Thanks for the warning." He says sarcastically.

"Yeah. Do you think we have gone high enough? Can we stop on this big branch right there?" I point to the one roughly to my right, and Gale places his hand on the huge branch, dragging himself onto the small but big platform. I do the same, and he reaches his hand out to me. I take it with content, and we both sit down near the center of the giant twig. He doesn't let go of my hand, for which I am thankful. We have a few minutes of silence, both watching the sunrise with intense fascination. I find my head leaning against his chest, and his well-muscled arms wrapped around me. The sunrise is incredibly beautiful. Blood red to crimson, crimson to red, red to hot pink, hot pink to light pink, light pink to peach. And eventually fading to an almost white as the large ball rose above the horizon. I could feel tears well up in my eyes, not tears of sadness, but joy. The wind whistles like a lullaby threw the leaves, I could hear the faint song of mockingjays in the distance. Gale hugs me tighter, and I crane my neck to look up at him. His gray eyes are locked on the rising sun, but when he feels my gaze he looks down at me. His eyes great big gray pools of love.

"Katniss, I think we're safe now." he whispers.

I beam up at him, and he chuckles. I find myself giggling. I shiver. Yikes, I really hope that wears off.

"You cold?" he pulls me closer.

"No…" my voice trails, it dreamy note to it.

"Too bad," he whispers, resting his chin on the top of my head. Silence creeps in, and stays with us for at least 10 minutes. "Catnip?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you think….that…Gosh, this is going to sound really pathetic." He seems to be talking half to me, half to himself.

I shift my body so I could look at him, he's staring at the ground. Frowning, but even when he's frustrated I feel my heart melt like butter on a hot pan.

"What?" his eyes alternate back to me, looking straight into my eyes with love, appeal, and a pinch of nervousness. I wonder why. Gale is never, ever, nervous to talk to me.

"Will you marry me?" Wow. I was not expecting that.

A new door seems to open in my mind, one that had had a lock on it until this moment, and a bunch of idea's and possibilities go threw my head like channel's flipping on a TV screen. Some good; like cradling a tiny baby in my arms, then the baby, 12 years later being picked for the Reaping. Watching him or her die on the TV screen, and Gale fighting to the death to protect him or her. Then me being all left alone. My stomach lurches, and ever muscle, joint and cell freezes in my body.

Yes or No?

Doubt flickers in Gale's eyes that soon fill with a strange hurt. He probably saw the hesitation in my eyes, which made him worry. But if we are running away, we won't need to go into the Hunger Games, I guess because we are free, we are as safe as we can get. I mean, what harm can it do?

"Yeah. Yeah! I will!" I press my lips to his, and my hands find his hair, and he puts his arms around my waist, to deepen the kiss. It goes on like this for a while, then we decide its time for breakfast, well, I guess more of lunch. But any way, we head down the tree for brunch, I guess you could call it, and the whole way there is a skip to my step. Apparently I'm smiling the entire time I am cooking brunch for us, because my cheeks hurt when I'm done. I never knew that just being engaged to Gale would make me so happy. I mean, I knew I loved him, but I never realized that I would turn into my mother if anything ever did happen to him. All in all, it makes me happy that I know no one could ever take him away from me now.

My fingers are intertwined with Gale's, as we spend our time walking around our campground and wondering off a little bit, and talking about our future plans. We didn't decide on much, except that we wish that our family could be at our wedding. We also didn't want it to be too big. If we were back home no, this is our home now I mean, if we were back in District 12, we would only have a few people from the Hob come and maybe a few other people, but gossip spreads fast, so it might be more than wanted at our wedding. Oh well…

We spend a long time talking about how different our wedding would be, just from being here and in District 12. There are no more specifics of our conversation, but the general idea of our relationship. Time flies by really, really fast, and before you know it, the sun is getting ready for bed. You can tell by the way the birds slowly stop chirping, the way the mosquitos are hunting for food, and when Gale deliberately dozes off.

We head back into our 'home' and I get this sudden urge to clean up our area. Making our bed, moving a few large rocks in the main area of the cave, and taking our supplies to one corner of the giant rock, are some of the things I spend the next twenty minutes doing. My arms reach down to grab a small boulder, when I catch a glimpse of something white underneath it. Moving the rock to the side, the white thing gets bigger and yellower, when I notice that there are scribbles on the paper. I pick it up, careful not to rip the delicate note. I blow the dust and a tiny spider off of the paper, then slowly read it.

**_Dear Gale and/or Katniss,_**

**_If you have found this letter, it obviously means you have come to the cave. Tell both of your mothers and siblings that we are OK. As you know, we were 'killed' in the mining accident. Right as it was happening, we ran as far as we could to the forest. As you also know, we have been curious about the 'mysterious District 13' and have been taking notes about everything we have noticed. We found it as our only chance to make it with out being killed by the peacekeepers, or worse. We hope that you will stay safe, and I know how smart you two are. Don't do anything stupid, and I know we could count on you. Right now we are heading to District 13 in order to fight against the Capitol, and win the rebellion._**

**_ May the odds be ever in your favor. I'm just kidding. Haha. But seriously, don't do anything stupid. Love you both._**

**_ Travel safely,_**

**_David Hawthorne_**

**_And_**

**_Ash Everdeen_**

_P.S. We are still alive, obviously, but just go to District 13. There is a map on the back of this letter. Follow the path we are taking, and we hope to see you guys in District 13._

I read this at least four times over, just to make sure I'm not hallucinating. Gale looks over with curiosity, and asks, "Whatch'ya got there, Catnip?"

"I uh, I found this under the rock." I hand it over to him so he can examine it. When I'm sure he read over it a couple of times, I ask him, "Gale? What does it mean?"

"We're going to District13."

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**Hey y'all! I hope you guys liked this chapter, it was a lot easier writing a happy chapter full of love than a depressing chapter full of death and agony. We put a lot of work in this and we will try and update as soon as possible. Reviews are always welcome, and we will get back to you as soon as we can! **

**HUNGER GAMES RULES! **


	11. Chapter 10

**Hey guys! We have reached double digits! This is the shortest chapter we have EVER written. I know, I know. It's so sad. But we are finding it really hard to write longer chapters just based on sorrow. I have created a poll on my profile to see if you guys want us to continue writing shorter chapters for The Gang (that's what we nicknamed Amber, Ash and David.) or to not write any chapters for them at all until they reach District13. If you would like us to continue writing for The Gang, and you have any ideas, PM me, and we will try to fit it in. If you have any questions, you may also PM me. We will continue writing for Gale and Katniss, but any ideas for their adventure will be greatly appreciated.**

**Thank you for your consideration.**

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_My name is Ash Everdeen… Hunter just died… Amber is heartbroken… David and I mourn for his loss… We are on our way to District 13…_

Life has never been the same for us. Everything is quiet. Broken. Empty. Ever since Hunter has passed, we have been dragging our feet, our heads always down, smiling seeming like the impossible. Amber seems to have the worst of it though. She has basically closed every door in her mind and won't let anything in or out of it again, she's been crying in her sleep, and she won't eat or drink. She's getting very weak, I'm getting worried she'll try and get to Hunter again no matter what.

But the only thing that makes me happy right now is that I have found out that she isn't the kind of person who blames other people for what she knows they were innocent for. She hasn't blamed David or I yet, for not coming in time to rescue them or for not staying close by, or for anything, really. She has thanked us for our kindness, for helping her get through this. But her emotion always stays the same. Depression. Sorrow. Agony. I know that she has been strong; having the resistance to blame us, avoiding joining Hunter, and in the worst case, both. Even though David and I have only known them for two days or so, we are having the same emotions as we would if they were our own kids going through this. I can't even imagine how hard it would be for Amber. There has been a few times where she will ask for a break, sit down on a log or a rock, and cry her eyes out. Sometimes she'll whisper his name in her sleep or wake up screaming. But she stays solid and sturdy.

And we keep going.

It hurts, but we keep going.

Sometimes it seems as though the sun wont rise in the morning, or the birds will stop chirping. Everything seems to be changing. All of the things we used to do before climbing trees, stepping over twigs, watching the sunset have a different meaning. Before they meant happiness and freedom. Now all they seem to mean is another dreadful day is ahead of us, or thinking that Hunter won't be able to do any of those things ever again.

We are fishing today along the edge of a thick river, David is casting our makeshift fishing rod while I'm gutting one of the two fish we had caught so far. Amber is sitting on a log, head in her hands. We're all quiet today, the clouds are gray and stormy threatening to burst with heavy rain. The birds around us fly in large groups of at least fifteen birds. Everything is so soundless. The steps of our feet, our slow, hollow breaths, and the next-to-no conversations we have shared. Just then, Amber looks up towards the stormy sky, her eyes puffy from crying, and turns to me.

"Is dinner ready?" she asks, her voice barley a whisper.

Its almost hard to gasp, Amber had hardly ever spoken unless in her sleep after Hunter died.

"A-Almost." I choke out, shocked.

Amber nods and returns back to the cover of her hands. I exchange a shocked glance with David, and I know he is as shocked as I was. _Talk to her!_ I mouth furiously at him.

"I uh… At least you will see him in the after-life." I turn towards David and give him a death glare, shaking my head, _No._ He gives an apologetic look, and turns to Amber. "Sorry. That was stupid. I probably made that worse. Um…" he rushes over to Amber to comfort her, but I stop him.

"Don't!" I yell-whisper. "Leave her alone. Give her some time."

Dinner is quiet. I can tell we are all deep in thought. My thoughts vary between Hunter, Amber, and Home. Well, not exactly home. But Family. How was Evelyn? How was she coping with my disappearance? How was Prim? My little Primrose with her two braids and cheerful smile that always brightened my spirits, and how was Katniss? My brave, strong, loyal Katniss. Has she found our letter? Had she been hunting for the family? Keeping them alive. Guilt stabbed me like knifes. I should be there, hunting secretly for my family, and keeping them alive. Not running off and playing adventure games. _This is not a game. This is real._ I keep telling myself. _We are real people. Real people die. _My mind wanders. _Like Hunter._

Just then, a single raindrop plops onto my paints and within two seconds the storm clouds release their rain, as if the whole world is crying for Hunter.

* * *

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	12. Chapter 11

**Hey! I know its been a while, but there were only 4 reviews, which kind of made me sad. But for all those who reviewed, thank you so much. Please review, I wouldn't really care if it was even one word that was like 'Awesome' or something. But please just review? Please? You guys are gonna like this chapter a lot…It's on fire with awesomeness! Haha, you guys don't know what that **_**really**_** means yet…. But you'll get it by the end…**

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_My name is Gale Hawthorne… I am running away to District 13 with Katniss Everdeen… I love her more than anything… I want to protect her… _

I wake up to sun shining through the canopy of leaves above our heads, birds chirping outside, and a loud-snoring Katniss. My legs and arms are stiff from all the traveling we had done, going late into the evening and towards midnight following the map our father's had left us. We had probably slept through the morning and early afternoon, but we were making good progress. With an estimate, I'd say we walked/ran/jogged/traveled maybe 1/4th of the map, but that's just an estimate. It seems a lot closer than it really is. Or the other way around. I should probably stop letting my mind wander, because I'm just getting myself more and more confused.

Katniss is mumbling something in her sleep, too slurred to understand. She shifts. Her head is on my chest, as well as her hand, her hair in her face. I laugh. Seeing her so peaceful while sleeping, and so careless, and she is the opposite when she is awake. She looks so tiny and innocent while she sleeps, she seems to innocent to shoot someone with a bow and arrow. Just then she growls in her sleep.

That's my Katniss.

She blinks open her eyes to look up at me. A tiny smile blossoms on her face and I grin back at her.

"Good morning, sleepy-head." I say to her quietly, not a whisper, but softly, as I plant a kiss on her forehead.

"Good morning," she says, burying her face into my chest, smiling. But the smile turns into a frown almost instantly. "Ugh."

"What?"

"Something _reeks_." She wrinkled her nose in disgust.

I sniffed the air, something did stink. It smelled like home, like when my mom would put the meat me and Catnip had caught on the fire, or when I would throw a log in the fire in the bitter times in winter. It smelled like… Something burning. Something likes a fire. Not the cooking fire, or a boiling water fire.

Like a forest fire.

"Katniss!" I shouted, bolting into a standing position, still gripping her hand and pulling her up with me. She gazed up at me, her gray eyes laced with fear.

"Katniss, that's smoke. The forest is on fire!"

"Seriously?! That is _messed up! _I was in the middle of really good dream!"

"Katniss! This is serious! C'mon! Grab everything and run!" With my free hand, I start grabbing our few belongings, while my other hand is still clutching Katniss's to make sure she doesn't go away from me forever. With fear creeping over both of us, we check to make sure we have everything, and run as fast as our legs will carry us. Our fingers entwined, faces etched with horror, the glow of burning red fire on our backs.

"Wait!" Katniss's voice interrupts my thoughts. "We forgot Ralph!"

"Katniss! There's no time! He would be dead already! The fire is at our heels! We have to run!" she seems to understand my reasoning, so she continues to run at full speed. While we are running, I hope we are following the path, so we are able to reach District 13 quicker.

"But Ralph…" she whimpered, turning her head to look back at the burning tree's behind us.

"Come on Katniss." I pleaded with her, the gray cloud of smoke enveloping us as we ran.

The smoke made my lungs burn like fire, each gasping breath caused pain to wrack my lungs. The clean air slipping away like leaves in the wind. Katniss followed me cautiously now, her eyes stretched wide with fear. Luckily, the fire seems to be slowing down its speed. Either that, or we are running faster. When we seem to be at least a couple yards away, something falls out of Katniss's bag. She lets go for a split second to grab the fallen item, and now I really wish she hadn't. Just as she did, a burning tree plummets to the ground, right in between us, barley missing my foot. The fire stretching it's long flaming fingers trying to burn me.

"Katniss?_ Katniss! _Katniss, where are you?" I shout at the fire. The heavy smoke and dancing flames make it next to impossible to see anything, my eyes sting with the smoke and tears while my lungs screech for clean air. My muscles ache severely from exhaustion, the burning tree seems to be going in and out of focus. But I know I can't black out on Katniss, probably burning to death now. But my muscles won't move, my arms and legs feel like useless hoses. I can feel the ground getting closer and closer to me, I feel the darkness closing in. I can only feel the hot grass and dirt as blackness consumes my vision.

* * *

The ground is cold under me, hard and cold like stone. I felt my dreamed blackness slipping away from me, something loud and raspy had woken me up. Taken me away from the comforting darkness, something soft like a feather was caressing my cheek that almost lulled me back to sleep. The raspy noise continued and I opened my eyes and sit up.

"Gale!" Katniss lunges toward me, and relief fills me. She wraps her arms around my torso, and she puts her face on my chest. I instinctively put my arms around her, embracing her. Her face comes out of hiding, and she moves her arms to my neck, and kisses me. Thankful for the reminder of why I have so many things to live for, and also reminding me that there is someone watching us, I stop, and turn my attention to our rescuer.

"How did you do it? What happened? And why are my clothes all muddy?" my clothes are torn, tattered, and covered in dirt.

"Well, its nice to meet you, too," the scrawny kid replied. How old was he? 14? 15?

"Sorry. Hi. How are you?" I say, irritated.

"I'm good, thank you. I have a slight cough, but that's it. Thanks for asking!" he says nonchalantly.

"Now will you tell me what happened?" I ask, annoyed with this kid, even though he saved my life.

"Sure, whatever. But you should be lucky I came along to save your life," He answers shortly. "Long story short. You blacked out during the fire as I went to save your girlfriend, and bring her to Rose," he jerked his chin in Katniss's direction. "So I had to take you here to, which was almost ended my life."

The boy glared at me when he finished, his shoulder's shaking with a cough that he tried to contain. He sat leaning against the cave wall opposite of us. "Are you going to say 'thank you' or something?"

"Yeah. Thank you." I pause. "So… Where are you heading? And who's Rose?"

"Gees! Slow down! I have no real destination. Rose is my twin. She is getting fresh water and dry twigs for a fire."

"How old are you guys?"

"15. Now that I've told my story, would you care to tell yours?"

"Uhh, sure." I look at Katniss for confirmation, and then turn back to the kid. "Well, I guess you could say that we were living a pretty tough life back in the district. We had next to no money, very little food, and our houses seemed as if they would fall apart if you lightly kick the wall. Every morning we " I gesture to Katniss and I " would go hunting before school to get our meal for the day. That's how things worked everyday. We'd wake up, get our hunting stuff, go hunting, come home, go to school, and pretty much die. It's the same process everyday. I had always had a huge hate for the Capitol, and this one year finally got to me, I'm not sure why now, maybe because it is my brother's first year… I'm not entirely sure why, but I just hate the Capitol so much. And this year it got to me, and I decided to run away.

"So I invited Katniss to go with me, and then we came to my father's old cave, found a note, decided to go to District 13, and then we got in that fire, then now I am explaining this all to you." I look at the scrawny fifteen year-old and only find confusion.

"Wait, what are the districts? Who is the Capitol? Who's Katniss?"

"Wow! Slow down! One at a time! The districts are kind of like factions. There are twelve districts, each belonging to a different subject, or devotion, I guess. The Capitol is the boss; I guess you could say, of all the districts. They get all of the things we work at. They get most of the coal, the food, luxury items, etc."

"Oh, ouch. I'd hate that. If I were you, man, I would have run away a long time ago. But who's Katniss?"

I look at Katniss in the eye and smile. "This is Katniss. She's my fiancé."

"Oh! Congratulations guys! Lets have a party! I've always wanted to have one, but I have never had an occasion." Before I have a chance to respond, a tall brunette walks in, which I assume is Rose. She has a heap of dry twigs in one hand, and a bucket of cold, crystal clear water in the other.

"So, I see you guys have met Seth." She gracefully sets down the bucket of water, and drops the twigs. Sweat covers the top of her forehead and under her eyes. Her clothes are also torn and ragged like the boys, but more intact.

"I'm Rose, Seth's twin sister," She explains, pushing the twigs into a corner and then she sits next to Katniss. The girl's smile was kind and her eyes were friendly.

"How'd you get stuck in the fire?" she asked. Her eyes darkening with worry.

I winced, remembering the choking smoke, white-hot flames, and worse…Losing Katniss…

I felt Katniss squeeze my hand, and I looked at her. Her gray eyes were filled worry. "Well," Katniss gulps. "I woke up to the smell of smoke, and we saw the fire. We grabbed everything we could, and ran. We ran as fast as our legs could carry us. Then…" a tear falls down her cheek, and I gently brush it off with my thumb. She continues, "Then something fell out of my bag, and I let go of Gale's hand for just a split second. A tree fell right in between us. I blacked out, then you guys saved us, and well, here we are!" At the 'here we are' part she raises her hands up and then quickly bringing them back down on her lap.

"Oh! That's so sad! I'd hate for that to happen to me! Well, I'm glad you guys are okay." Rose sincerely replies.

"Yeah, so am I. But if it weren't for you guys, we would have died. So, thank you. Thank you for that."

"Yeah, no problem. We needed some action here anyway. Life was getting pretty boring until you guys came along."

"Hey, would you guys want to come to District 13 with us? We could always use more company." I knew Katniss would ask them eventually; so I figure it will be all right now that she can't take it back. Rose turns toward Seth and they have an invisible conversation with their eyes, like Katniss and I do sometimes. Then they turn to look at us with a hopeful thought in their eyes.

"Would you guy's mind? I think it'll be fun!" Rose replies. It seems we are all really happy that they can join us.

"No! Not at all! It's the least we can do for what you guys did to save our lives!" Katniss replies, a little too happily.

"Great! So, when will we continue to go to this _mysterious _District 13?" Rose enthusiasts the 'mysterious' by smiling widely and wiggling her fingers.

"Um, I guess when ever you guys are ready and…_healed. _We're ready when you are. Honest." Katniss answered.

"I think _you guys_ are the ones who need the healing, but you didn't get any burns. It just might take a day or two for your throats to heal. But that doesn't mean you can't travel. We will just have to take it slow for a few days," Rose explained, smoothing out the map and rolling it into a type of scroll shape.

"The closets thing to where we are is…the River" her voice trails, and her eyes seemed to darken like she was remembering something from her past. Something bad.

Seth seemed to feel it too, his back slumped against the cave wall and his eyes grew cold as his fist clenched.

"Lets go." Seth growled fiercely, standing up and almost knocking his head on the cave roof.

Rose seemed to come back to her senses and she stood up too wrapping her hand around Seth's wrist.

"Wait…What about…" she glanced nervously at us; like there was something she didn't want to tell us.

Seth glared at her, then glared at us, his hand locking around his dagger.

_"It's time for you two to go now," _he snarled, sounding much more like a wolf than a human.

"A-are you guys hungry? Gale and I could go hunting for a while. Only if you want." Katniss stutters.

"Sure. That'd be great." Rose replied, half-heartedly. Its strange, the light conversation instantly turned to tension. Complete tension. Without a word, Katniss and I grab out bows and arrows, and head out.

* * *

Nothing but silence fills the empty spaces of the cave walls.

The tension still seems to linger in the air as if there were birds circling their prey, and we eat in silence, munching on our individual pieces of squirrel. Seth keeps glaring at Katniss and I in turn, but Rose just looks worried, like she knows her brother is going to do something horrible. And that it's happened before.

**END OF CHAPTER ELEVEN**

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	13. Chapter 12

**CHAPTER 12**

_My name is Ash Everdeen… We are on our way to District 13… We are getting closer and closer every second… We started with two… Then four… And now we have three… With each new day comes a new journey… I wonder what tragedy will step in our way today…_

The sun was peaking over the horizon and poking out from its cover of pine trees drawing long shadows over the ground that was still cold from the night before. It's been about a week since Hunter passed. Sorrow still looms in the air like molasses, slowly fading away. We took most of the days off this week from travel, trying to compose our selves. And I was also secretly hoping that Gale and Katniss would catch up to us, but only if they have left yet. If they ever will.

We come to a wide fast moving river, large rocks jutted out like teeth in the foamy waters. Since I was leading the way, I turn around to face everyone else. "Uh, guys? There is a huge rapid and we only have two options," I pause. "We could go around which would take at least one more day and it would be a lot easier. Or we could go across on those rocks over there, but that would give us the risk of someone falling in and dying. And we as sure as heck don't need another one of those…" I trail off, not really needing to get into detail with that.

Amber looks at me, then David, then me again. "We don't really need to waste another day when we already used so many. Might as well take the chance. I mean…we don't really need to use a day we need. The Capitol could have gotten much closer from the week we stayed put. I vote we go."

"I'm in." Agrees David.

"I guess I'm in too. I'll go first, then Amber, you can go, and then David, you bring up the back. Are you ready?"

"Yes." They both say in unison. I hesitantly put one foot in front of the other, taking a deep breath. I carefully place my right foot on the top of a sturdy-looking rock.

It's not so sturdy. It rocks and shakes beneath my weight, threatening to unbalance and tip over. I try another one. This one is a good sturdy rock, the next one cooperates and then I turn back to Amber.

"Your turn." I say shakily reaching my hand out to her. She takes a deep breath and takes my hand. I can feel her shaking and pity stabs my heart. She's been like a songbird whose wings were clipped. She can't fly without Hunter.

With a tiny scream, she jumps off the bank and teeters back and forth, then slowly catches her balance. Once she regains her balance she gives me the smallest of smiles.

"Phew. That was fun."

"And close," says David closely behind, on the first rock. Amber stops to let him catch up, and then she grabs his hand.

"If you fall, I fall too. You're all I have left." She gives a reassuring squeeze to both our hands, and then looks into my eyes. The spray from the water splashes behind her as a small smile creeps on her lips. Then she turns to David and does the same thing. "Thank you. F-for everything."

I nod, and then say, "Lets get going. I want to get this over with as soon as possible." They both agree, and I look ahead. We are about half way between both sides of land. Right in the heart of the rapid. The most dangerous part. Amber looks down at the fast moving water inches from our feet, fear clouding her eyes. She looks up at me. Her eyes pools of pain and fear, and I know instantly what she means. Water. A river was the last place she was with Hunter. Just then, I'm not quite sure what is happening next, but what I can get out of the screaming, the agonizing cry, the sudden loss of reality, is that someone's missing.

Amber has fallen into the river.

"Amber? Amber! Amber where are you?"

My shouting almost makes me topple down into the river and I catch my balance. I stare franticly around for a flash of orange, or a head bobbing on the surface of the water but there's nothing there. Surely not? A scream answers my question; No, and Amber is there struggling franticly against the foamy black waters. Her bright red hairs, flashing like blood against snow. But what could we do? I couldn't jump out after her that would get us both killed. We couldn't throw anything at her; she was getting too far away.

"Amber! Amber! Amber?! What—What do we do?!" I shouted to David over the roar of water, but I knew David was as paranoid as I was.

Wait a minute.

What was that? Something was moving; something was swimming through the rapids. Getting ready to intercept Amber as she was tossed threw the waves. Now it had reached her, and was bringing her closer to the shore. On the bank by at the end of the river I could see…two…three people standing there, shouting to the shape moving threw the water. The shape kept paddling until it reached the shore, after staggering onto the bank with Amber beside it.

David and I quickly finished our obstacle by turning around and jumping from rock to rock before checking their safety. Then, we ran the far distance down to the bottom of the river, which the four people were, crouched around Amber. They all turn around when they hear us coming. I almost in my tracks.

In that tiny moment the whole world stops and my heart is filled with so much love it hurts.

Katniss stands there. With Gale. And Amber. And two other people that I have no clue whom the heck they are. But my focus is on Katniss; my little Katniss flower has followed us all the way here. Through who knows where across thousands of miles facing who knows what. To find us.

"D-Dad?" Katniss stammered, her gray eyes filling with tears of joy. She runs up to me and wraps her arms around my neck, burying her face in my shoulder. "I missed you so much. You have no idea how much has happened within the four months you were gone."

"Well, I guess we have the whole rest of the way for you to tell us." I smiled. I release Katniss from the longing hug, and she goes over to David and gives him a smaller less lasting one. Gale does the same to me. "I'm so glad you guys caught up to us. I thought it would either be before right now or never."

"Me too." Is all he says. He walks back to Katniss and holds her hand. I assume they are together. I'm happy for them both. David and I always thought they would end up together, but could only hope. My eyes wander to the people that were traveling with them. They notice my gaze and Gale says, "Oh yeah! We made acquaintances on the way. This is Seth " he motions to the boy. " and this is Rose." He says, also motioning, to the girl. "They rescued us from a forest fire that was probably set by the Capitol. We let them travel with us." He turns back to Seth and Rose. "Guys, these are our dads." He motions to us. We shake their hands, then I remember that they haven't met Amber.

"Oh guys. This is Amber. We found her an uh, running away from 10, so she joined us. Amber, this is my daughter, Katniss, and her… very close friend, Gale." I said.

"That's cool. Its nice to meet you guys." Amber said, quietly and somberly. They shook hands. End of conversation.

"So should we get on the road? Or should we stay here the night?" asked Katniss. "Its up to you guys, and Amber might need to rest."

"I'm fine." Amber insists. "Seriously. Don't let me get in the way. I'm a trooper, remember?" Amber gives a small smile. She's talking about how strong she was during the…incident with Hunter.

"Well, I think we should just stay here for the night. We have been on the move for a while, and its not like we have a deadline. We should probably get there before winter, though. But we have a few months for that." Gale pips in.

"I'm all for that, too. I mean, it wont hurt to stay one night. Right?" says Katniss.

"Yeah, I agree with Katniss and Gale." Says Rose. Seth nods with agreement.

"Alright, we can stay one night. But we should really get the move on." Says David.

"Hey, why don't we all go in pairs to get things we need. Dad, David, Gale, and I can go hunting for food, while Seth finds a reasonable spot to set up camp, and Rose and Amber can get dry sticks for a fire. Does that sound ok?" Katniss suggests. Everyone else nods his or her head in agreement. "Ok, lets go."

Within the three or so hours we were hunting, we caught one deer, three birds, nine squirrels, and seven rabbits. We could eat for days with all this food back home. We would get enough things worth a trade, too. Looks like we could have a feast tonight in celebration of meeting up with everyone else. Gale, Katniss, David, and I all return back to the campsite about a half hour before sundown. David and I start to skin just the deer and one rabbit for tonight, so we can save the rest for later. Seth is making a fire while Rose and Amber talk about who knows what. I'm really glad that they are becoming friends. That's the one thing that Amber needs right now.

Gale and Katniss are trying to get a good view of the sunset from higher up the hill. I'm also really happy that they finally realized their love for each other. I think everyone else knew before they did. That's kind of sad, if you think about it. They didn't even know their love for the other; they were both blind of their emotions.

Once David and I have skinned the deer and rabbit, we place them over the fire to let them cook. As they start to brown, I make my way to the top of the hill to fetch Gale and Katniss. The hill is really steep and there is the top of rocks sticking out, which help me retain my balance every few steps, but also making me loose my balance with the uneven ground. I look up to see if Gale and Katniss are near the top. They are. They're sitting right next to each other, Katniss's head leaning on Gale's shoulder, his arm wrapped protectively around her. I decide not to interrupt, so I head back down to the camp, letting them come down when they're ready.

I turn around, and walked down the hill, leaving Gale and Katniss to their own little moment. I join David to where he's sitting by the fire, his eyes dark. I know instantly something's troubling him.

"What's wrong?" I ask him once I've sat down beside him.

His eyes don't leave the fire.

"Are families are still in hell." He whispered softly.

I wince, he was right. Prim, Evelyn, and David's family were still back in District 12. They could be starving to death, or getting tortured in the Capitol, or killed by wild beasts trying to find us. Or Prim could have been reaped in the Hunger Games and skewered and be cooking on a fire by some crazy cannibal Career, while Evelyn watches in agony. It pained me to think about it.

"You think we should go back? For the rest of the family?" I ask.

"That's a huge risk, you know. But I know what you mean, I'm worried too, I think we should once we get to District 13. We've only just found Gale and Katniss a little less then two hours ago. I mean, now that we found them, we cant just leave them," his gaze flickered to Gale and Katniss's silhouette. "Cute couple, aren't they. We always knew something was going on between them."

"Yeah. They're meant for each other, but we need our family too." I add quietly.

David nodded.

"Are Gale and Katniss coming down? Or can we eat without them?" she asks quietly.

"Yeah, we can eat now. Then we should all sleep, it's getting late and we have a long day of travel tomorrow." Dinner is passed out, and we all stuff ourselves till we can't eat anything else. By the time it's getting dark, when the very tip of the sun is just barley visible over the horizon, Amber, Rose, and Seth are just preparing for bed, Gale and Katniss come down just as the weak embers from the fire finally go out.

**End of Chapter 12**

* * *

**OMGosh guys! I am SOOOOOOO sorry for not posting anytime sooner! So much has been happening, and with School, and homework, and everything, there is just no time to write! So when the chapter was finished, I had a new better idea that didn't fit in with what we had wrote before, so we had to completely edit the chapter, and that didn't cost anything but time. Any way. A lot of things had happened, so the only thing I'm asking of you WONDERFUL readers, followers, and reviewers, is that you continue to read AND review. Its also been slower (the updating) because the average amount of reviews has decreased, but I'm not sure if thats cause we're getting worse, or if thats just cause... I don't know. yeah. so PLEASE REVIEW! THATS ALL I'M ASKING OF YOU! **


	14. Chapter 13

**Hey guys! We're back! Sorry it's been so long since we posted last! We feel really bad! Any way, we wrote this chapter in like, 2 days. We have decided to make a playlist that you can listen to while you read this, and they are the songs that we listened to writing this. I want to thank my reviewers which were both guests and *cough cough* my *cough cough* co-writer *cough cough* If you don't care, then you can skip this and read on. If you are a nice person, and do care, then you can read the list of songs that we listened to that fit the mood. (****We are a fan of country music, just so you know****)**

**Last Kiss by Taylor Swift**

**Safe & Sound (feat. The Civil Wars) by Taylor Swift**

**Forever & Always (Piano Version) by Taylor Swift**

**Ours by Taylor Swift**

**A Thousand Years by Christina Perri**

**A Thousand Years Pt. 2 Christina Perri**

**A Thousand Years by The Piano Guys**

**Again, sorry for the delay. Enjoy!**

**CHAPTER 13**

_My name is Katniss Everdeen… I am sixteen years old… I missed my father so much… I'm not sure if it was fate that put us together, or our desperate souls, but all that matters is that we stay together…_

_ The monster moved toward me, black fur bristling with fury, thick hard muscle rippling underneath its fur, red eyes blazing with ferocious hot anger. It's lips pulled back over its teeth to reveal dagger sharp incisors. It crouched low preparing to spring, triumph glittering in its demon red eyes. _

Nightmares ruin my otherwise peaceful night. I stare up at the stars. My head is on Gale's chest, his arm around my shoulders. He sleeps peacefully, and his steady breathing and gently beating heart slowly eases my fears. The sound of owls making quiet conversations, and the soft sound of dangerous rushing water fills the air. Other than that and the peaceful hum of breathing from everyone, it's dead silent. I can't sleep. Something is keeping me up. I'm not sure exactly what it is, though. I get up, careful not to wake up Gale. I slip out of my shoes, and feel the cold, soft, dark green grass between my warn out feet.

I grab my bow and sling the quiver over my shoulder, I notch my arrow and aim for the nearest tree, and the arrow is in the trees heart before it can cry in protest. I'm so bored. I'm so tired. I can't sleep. I'm going mad. I have no idea what I'm going to do with my life. I'm getting married to Gale, once we get to District 13. We're going to destroy the Capitol. We're going to win. Gale and me are going to live happily ever after. Our kids will grow up in a new Panem, with no Capitol, no President Snow, safe and sound, without a fear in the world. After all of this, everything will be ok. What am I doing? I'm just thinking and getting my hopes up.

What if I die in the rebellion? What if I don't even make it there alive to District 13? I'll never to have my happily ever after with Gale, I'll never see Prim or my mother again. I'll never get to do anything I want to. I was stranded in the middle of the ocean without a life raft, doomed to die. But I was not alone. I wasn't stranded. I had Gale. Gale was my life raft, Gale was my burning torch in the darkness, and Gale was my whole world, as I was his. We were a connected string, cut one, you cut both.

I turned back to where the group was sleeping. Gale was awake propped up on one elbow watching me with his attractive gray eyes.

"Love, you doing alright?" he asked curiously.

"Fine. Just practicing."

I gestured to the several tree's with the arrows plunged into their hearts. Gale's eyes narrowed, he knew when I was stressed. He stood up and walked over to me, taking his hands in mine.

"What's wrong?" he questioned fiercely. His gray eyes x-raying me.

"I'm just…stressed out." I said quickly, not meeting his gaze.

"Oh, come on. No one else is awake. You don't have to pretend, around me. Tell me what's bugging you. What's on your mind?" I take a deep breath.

"Uh, I was just thinking about…everything. I mean, what happens if I die in the rebellion? What happens if I die before we even get to District 13?"

"You won't."

"How do you know?"

"Because. I'll protect you. You die, I die too." He smiles. "We're family now."**(A/N: yes, I read Divergent. I just had to use that line for this story, it fits perfectly ****)** I smile back at him. His face lights up at the thought. I kiss him, grateful that I have him in my life.

"I love you, you know that?"

"No, I just thought you couldn't stay away from me because of my amazingly good looks." He says sarcastically. We both smile.

"Yeah, yeah, that's definitely why I fell in love with you, not the fact that you are funny, and charming, and the best guy I know." I reply acrimoniously. We're sitting on the grass, me on his lap, his arms wrapped tightly around me, and my head on his shoulder. The sun is just barley coming over the horizon, the top of his head is just peaking over the grassy hills.

"Shall we go get breakfast?" he asks me, and then kisses my head.

I nod and get up slowly. His hand immediately reaches for mine, and our fingers entwine. I bend down and pick up my bow, as we head towards the start of the tree line. With our bows in our hands, and quivers full of arrows are around our backs, we come to life. With unspoken conversations with our eyes, and our footsteps falling perfectly into line, anyone watching us might think we've practiced this routine thousands of times. Sure, we go hunting every day, but it's different every time. The animals are different, the feeling is different, and in this case the woods are different. We stir up a flock of wood pigeons in our formation and six of them our dead at our feet before they even reach the treetops. But what confused me was _why_ they were shocked into flight, Gale and I had been moving quieter than the breeze that ran lightly over the grass. He must have noticed too because he notches his bow again, not for hunting, but for battle.

My whole body locks into it's battle mode, I notch an arrow into the bow and raise it to face the tree's ahead of us. Gale instinctively goes right next to me, half covering me to protect me. I don't protest.

Then, I hear it.

The sound of death. It just sounds bad. All of it. The sound of slashing, arrows flying, people screaming, it all fills the air. Then something hits me. Hard. Right in the stomach. A sharp, stabbing, ripping pain. Like my whole body was being torn right through the middle, black spots fill my vision. Too much pain, too much pain. Soon, within seconds, my whole world goes black.

**A/N: So, that was a really short chapter, so we're not going to end it there. We're not **_**that **_**evil. There's more, but just cause Katniss passed out, it'd be kind of hard to write like that, the rest of the chapter would just be: 'I'm tired, and sleeping, and everything is black.' Not a very good chapter. Another thing. We figured since they are all together now, we'd just do Gale and Katniss's POV unless it's an emergency, then we'll do someone else's POV. If you have any comments, questions, concerns, or ideas, PLEASE let us know in a comment or PM, and we'll take that suggestion, etc. into consideration. Thank you for your time. Now on to CHAPTER 13 PART 2 **

_My name is Gale Hawthorne… I am running away to District 13 with Katniss Everdeen… I love her more then anything… But she is about to be taken away from me…_

It was horrible. It was just a normal hunting trip in the woods. Not our woods, of coarse. It's safe there. But here, there were animals that we never approached in the District 12 woods. We were just about to catch some breakfast for everyone, when all of a sudden; there was a giant, menacing bear that jumped out. Of course I tried to protect Katniss, from the thing, but it took me by surprise. My only thought was to kill it so it couldn't hurt Katniss. But it was too close to use our bows to fight against it, so by the time I thought about using my knife, it had already scratched Katniss in the stomach. A deep red line that ran diagonally across her stomach was producing nothing but blood. Within seconds, her whole shirt was crimson red. I finally fought off the bear, but that sacrificed getting a few cuts down my arms and torso. I didn't care; I just had to save Katniss. My only thought, my only purpose right then was to kill the bear and rush Katniss back to camp. That's what I did. It took longer than I had hoped, but the bear was gone by the time the sun got fully out from beneath the horizon. The second after the bear was dead; I dropped my weapons and ran to Katniss. I pick her up, fast but careful, and run back to camp with her in my arms. Blood stained my shirt and hands, and the memory stained my heart and my brain. As I was running toward the camp, and as I got closer and closer, more people started waking up. Katniss's dad woke up first and I yelled, "She got hurt. I'll explain later, we just need to fix her! Get a bed ready!"

Luckily Katniss's dad was slightly familiar with this kind of stuff, him living with Mrs. Everdeen, and all. I'm hoping that Amber, Rose or Seth might know anything to help Katniss. My dad doesn't know anything. I don't bother asking him. "Does anyone know how to stitch up someone's stomach?"

"Her wound couldn't be that different from a C-section, except with any painkiller's and with no baby and-"

"Help her!" I snarled. The fear rushing into me in giant waves. I felt like a cornered animal. I had nowhere to run, nowhere to hide from the fact that Katniss might die. But rage was also crushing me with its weight like boulders, why weren't they helping her already? Ash blinked, and with a calmness that sent my teeth on edge with rage he set to work on the bloody, battered wounded body that was Katniss. While everyone else is fixing Katniss, I am just being myself in a shocked state; everything seemed to pull on a faint bluish numb tint. I'm so tired, but I can't sleep; my mind is racing way too much. I can't stop thinking what would happen if Katniss dies. What would happen? What would I become? I can imagine myself, years from now, sitting in a corner, still mourning for my beloved Catnip. _No. No! Stop thinking like that! If you keep thinking that then it might come true! You need to know that Katniss _will _be ok. Ash will save her. He has too…_

Just then, a tiny drop of rain splashed onto my head. I could hear the storm clouds thundering above, and feel the sudden flurries of rain that pounded against my shoulder as I moved numbly, shifting my whole body so I stood over Ash and Katniss, guarding them from the rain. I hear, touch, see, smell, and even taste the heavy droplets of rain. But I wasn't really there. Really I was trapped inside my own body, watching Katniss bleed to death before me. The steady rise and fall of her growing slower and slower. Katniss's life slipped through my fingers like water.

"_No." _I moaned, thought entirely a where of what was going around me. My whole focus, my whole _self_ was focused on Katniss. I go sit in the spot where we were sleeping this morning. I sit down, and slowly fall down till I'm laying on the cold, wet, mushy ground. I cry. For Katniss, for me, for everyone who loved her, for our 'used to be' future kids, for everything that can be a cause to cry about. Luckily the rain covers up the tears that I shed, am shedding, and the many tears I will shed. It seems like forever, but before they're finished on Katniss, I drift into a sleep with dreams of Katniss.

I'm shaken awake by Katniss's dad. Ash says solemnly, "I think she's leaving soon. You want to say any last words?" the words hit me like bullets. Catnip. _My _Catnip. Gone. Gone forever. Never to be seen again. Her laugh, never to be heard. Her smile, never to be shared. Her lips never on mine again. Wow. I'd never thought we'd have a last kiss. I'd never even thought that we'd end, ever, let alone this way. It's just a terrifying thought. Absolutely horrifying. I feel completely empty. Like nothing's there. I'm just another body, to be torn, ripped up, and thrown around. I feel like I have no purpose.

I stand up from my spot on the ground. My strides over to Katniss are full of sorrow, dread, and guilt. If I hadn't been so focused on killing the bear, I could have protected Katniss, and we would both be ok right here. I don't understand why _she _had to be the one to die. Well, she's not dead yet, but she will be soon. Maybe there's a way to save her. There's got to be just one possible way to save her. _Thinks Gale, THINK! _Maybe we're close enough to District 13 that we can run her there, and then they can fix her! "Ash!" his head turns around fast. "How far away is District 13? On the map?" my voice sounded hopeful, yet warns out.

"Uh, probably about a two hour walk. We would never make it."

"Come on! Isn't there anything we can do? Anything at all that might save her?" I know he saw the desperation in my eyes, because I saw something spark in his mind, but he just frowns and shakes his head.

"Do you have any last words for her? We can leave you two alone. I already said mine." I nod, trying to not cry. He reassures me that everything will be ok.

But it won't, my Katniss is inches from death. Inches, but that means I still have time. Still have time to save her.

"No. _No_. It's not over. We _have _to take her to District 13." I growled fiercely. I knew I was grasping at straws, but if Katniss still had inches there was still hope in saving her.

David looks like I've finally lost it. Which in my opinion probably happened years ago, but Ash has a sympathetic look on his face; he feels my pain.

"Gale we w-"

_"No!"_ I snarled. Glaring angrily at them both. The rage and determination seemed to lock inside my body and staying there.

Suddenly, there was a low humming noise and a sound that ripped threw the clearing like knifes. All my rage and determination vanished instantly like water slipping through my fingers.

_ No. Not this…this can't be happening…_ I thought slowly.

Mist began to flow from our left, and I turned toward it almost mechanically. My thoughts blank. My body cold with fear. I knew my fate. I knew all our fates. The Capital had caught us.

We were as good as dead now…

I could see shapes moving through the mist, cloaked in black with hoods covering their faces and not white like the Avox. Which struck me by surprise, but I just watched the cloaked figures move through the mist and form in a perfect practiced circle around us.

They pulled their hoods down.

"We're from District 13, we're here to help you."

**End of Chapter 14**


	15. Chapter 14

**Hey guys! How are y'all? I'm so sorry it's been so long! And sorry we left you on a cliffhanger last chapter! Would you guys rather have shorter chapters more often (about 3 pages on Microsoft) or longer chapters farther apart (about 6 pages Microsoft)? Let us know! PLEASE! AND REVIEW PLEASE!**

**Any way, here is Chapter FOURteen!**

CHAPTER 14

_ My name is Gale Hawthorne… I am from District 12… My fiancé is dying… I'm so scared… I don't know what's going to happen to her… I love her so much…_

"D-District 13?" I choked out.

The speaker, a man, nods slowly. He has a middle-aged face, with broad shoulders and well-muscled arms. He moves warily towards Katniss who is still lying bleeding on the ground, as if he thinks we might attack him. He bends down and touches her wrist.

"There is still time. If we leave for District 13 now, we can save her." The man said in a deep voice.

Ash was ready right away while my mouth sagged open like a fish. My thoughts were still muddled from my mental breakdown and it took me a few moments to process what had just happened, and by then they had already put Katniss into the hovercraft. After I become conscious enough, I run onto the hovercraft, as we head to District 13.

It only takes moments to get there, and right when we land everything sort of happens in a blur. Everyone is rushing to save Katniss while I'm still sort of in a shock state. My mind paralyzed me. I move in a dream-like stupor, my body feels detached from my mind, like I'm a puppet hanging from strings. But the only thing on my mind is Katniss. I can't find her! Panic begins to lash out at me like a caged animal. Where have they taken her? _Where is she?_

"_Katniss!_" I wailed, desperate for the one I loved. Katniss was gone. No. No. No. _No. No. No_. _No! NO!_

I could hear voices around me, only hearing tiny glimpses of what was happening around me, everything was going in and out of focus. I…I couldn't _see!_ Everything was blurry and flashing in ranges of pink, green, and yellow making it impossible to see anything. But Katniss needed me, where was she?

"_Katniss! Katniss! Katniss, where are you?" _

I felt my legs buckling beneath me, but Katniss was _gone. _Taken away by distrustful strangers.

Suddenly I felt arms wrap around my shoulders, dragging me back. Away from Katniss. Away from life. A soft voice sounded in my ear, it sounded…familiar… Who…?

"Gale, Gale…Calm down, it's alright. Take a deep breath… It's alright,"

It sounded like Katniss. But not like Katniss. Soothing…Soft. I felt the arms around me release and something solid under me. My whole body relaxed, and I instantly obeyed the voice. I took a deep breath. And then another.

"That's right. That's right, everything is going to be fine. Deep breaths Gale." The soft feathery voice continued.

Soon everything began coming back to me, the flashing colors slowly slipping back into their natural places, and things sliding back into focus. With each breath I could feel things coming back together, like the pieces of a puzzle. Then I could see something facing me. Something bright. Something red.

"A-Amber?"

She smiles, her green eyes brightening.

"You feeling okay?" she asks gently.

I felt hollow, empty. But my throat was as dry as bone. My throat feels dry and dusty.

"Thirsty." I croaked, my voice sounding hoarse in my ears.

"Ok, come with me and I'll get you a glass of water." I decided to follow her, because I was _really_ desperate for water. She helped me get off the floor, and she took my hand as a friendly gesture. I followed her past all these rushing people, and we exited the hospital section. I watch my feet, as they are moving forward from dark grey tiled floor, to even darker grey tiled floor in a pattern. Finally, we turned right, then left, then right, and I'm hoping we won't get lost. It seems to be a secret passage as the traffic gets slower and slower till we're the only people walking in that direction. Amber pulls me into what looks like a lounge. The room is secluded in a corner. It's a small room with a table, two chairs, a couch, and a small TV. There is a mini fridge, a counter with a sink, and a tiny container with plastic plates, cups, and eating utensils. Seems like a nice little hideout.

"I found it a few minutes ago. It doesn't look like it's been used for a while. Nice, isn't it?" she lets go of my hand, and goes over to get a cup and fill it up with water.

I nod, taking the glass that she hands to me a few moments later. I raise the cup to my lips and chug the whole thing down in about 5 seconds flat.

"Easy there, I don't think District 13 is going to run out of water." She jokes as I fill my cup with water and drain it as fast as the first one. It felt like heaven on my parched throat, after I had filled up the third one and have taken another long blissful swig, I join her on the couch where she had sat down, and was laying her head against the arm rest.

"It feels great to finally feel material again." She commented.

"Yeah. Hey, maybe you can help me with something." She waits for me to continue, her expression showing polite concern. "How did you cope? How did you _stand it_? How did you…forget? With Hunter." I said the words fast, so I wouldn't forget anything and so I wouldn't chock up.

Amber's eyes grew dark with mourning, and her jaw tightened like she was trying to keep from crying. She turned her gaze to the floor, and when she spoke it was with a slight faraway feeling.

"I-I…." she choked out. Her voice barley above a whisper.

She turned back to me; her expression was a look of pure grief, pure sadness, and pure pain. I opened my mouth to apologize, hoping I hadn't offended her, but she spoke before I could say anything.

"Gale, Katniss is going to live. Hunter didn't have an option; there had been no hope for him. But Katniss will live, maybe if we had reached District 13 in time, maybe if I been more careful…" she paused, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Hunter's situation would have been different. But Katniss _is going to live. _You're not going to have to feel the painful heart-wrenching heart ach that I did. You can't, no else deserves to feel the remorse I had felt when Hunter…_died." _

The amount of pain, grief, agony, sadness, remorse, guilt, and loss that rang in that last word was enough to break anyone's heart. Automatically I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her closer to me. Amber sobbed into my chest; I could feel her shaking in my arms. I thought of Posy, my little sister. Whenever she would wake up from a nightmare and run into my room. How much my little sister needed me, the protectiveness and determination that had stabbed me each time my little sister need me.

That is how it feels when Amber cried into my chest.

It's been a week since we arrived to District 13. Most of my days have been spent with Amber in Katniss's healing room. Katniss has been healing slowly, too slowly for me. But Amber has been helping me cope; we have that connection, that connection that one of our loved ones have been taken away from us. Though the bond we share isn't the same as the bond I had with Katniss, but more of a brother and sister bond.

We sat on opposite sides of the hospital bed, Amber watched me from across the bed while I watched Katniss's heart sensor. _Beep, beep, beep, beep. _On and on, never changing. But I guess that was the good thing, Katniss was still alive. I looked up from Katniss heart sensor at Amber, who smiled reassuringly.

"She's going to be fine. Her heart is stronger than ever. She'll wake up soon." She said softly. I sighed grief lancing threw my heart.

While the doctors from District 13 had been healing Katniss, she had gone into a coma. The doctors had not been able to wake her, so they had put tubes in her arms to help get the nutrition inside of her. They changed her tubes three times a week and charted her progress twice a day. Meanwhile they left her in her bed.

"I hope so." I whispered. She had been in the coma for 3 weeks it seemed like 3 years.

Amber reached across the emergency room bed and took my hand in hers. She squeezed it gently. I smiled weakly at her, and she smiled back.

"Lets do something fun, there's no use moping around here all day." She told me softly.

I looked back at Katniss's sleeping body. Katniss wasn't going to wake up any sooner, and Amber had a point, there was no real use moping around all day. I looked back at Amber.

"Okay."

Amber gave a mischievous smile and pulled me away from the Infirmary room and into the long corridors of the underground lair of District 13.

**SORRY ITS SO SHORT**

**Hey! Guess who's turn it is to write now? YOURS! In a magical word called REVIEW! Just click the button below here that says 'REVIEW' say something that you liked about the short chapter, then hit SEND! YAY! It's just as easy as that! Any way, PLEASE REVIEW! IT WOULD MEAN THE WORLD TO US! THANK YOU TO ALL OF YOU THAT DO!**


	16. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

**We are very very VERY sorry for not posting. We were both caught with a serious cold of writers block and there were also things like vacation, and school, etc. But we are proud to announce the posted Chapter 15! **

* * *

_My name is Gale Hawthorne… My fiancé is in a coma… I'm not sure if she'll wake up… I feel so empty, but Amber has been helping with that… I'm not sure if I can handle the dark emptiness any more, though…_

It feels like it's been several years since we have arrived at District 13, but I know it's only been a few weeks. Time has been passing too slowly for my liking, I haven't been able to get very much sleep, my nightmares too horrible to mention. Even though the nightmares are so diverse and different, they're all about the same thing. Losing Katniss. Forever. Without a kiss goodbye, or a final word. Nothing.

That's why I sit at her bedside every day. I want to make sure I don't loose her. I hear both of our slow and steady breaths, with the echoing sound of my heartbeat and Katniss's heart monitor in the background. I spend my long days in Katniss's room, with her empty company, and the occasional Amber, just watching her and her still, unmoving body. Occasionally, Katniss's dad will come down here and sit with her while I go get food with Amber, or something. Sometimes he'll tell me to go freshen up, take a walk, do something other than turning into a corpse, unwillingly.

It kills me to see her, just laying there, unresponsive, unnoticing, totally lifeless. I hate it. Sometimes when no one is around, I will talk to her as if she were really there, and pretend that she is talking back to me. I really must be going insane.

Today nothing has changed. I remain in the same numb pattern as I have for the past few months, or so. Life seems completely lifeless right now, without my Katniss. Amber watches me from across the bed, her green eyes full of concern. I know she's worried about me, wondering how much I can take. She understands my pain though and doesn't question me, but still I know in the back of her mind she is still worried about me. I know she hasn't been having the best few months herself. Sometimes I can hear her crying in her sleep, I see her occasionally walking through the corridors like a robot. Her eyes and thoughts are always on something painful far away. _Ha, I know the feeling. _

Katniss's dad comes in with food for us, the usual, old, bland, District 13 food. He leaves it on the bedside table next to Amber, glancing at me to amber to Katniss before leaving. Then the room is filled with the endless silence once more.

Weeks go by, then months, and there is still only one thing ever on my mind. Katniss. It's a very numb lifeless feeling, like I'm being pulled by strings and I'm not totally conscious of what I was doing. I just wish that Katniss would wake up.

Just then, Amber walks in telling me that lunch is almost over so I better hurry and grab something to eat before they close the cafeteria. After a few minutes, Amber is finally able to persuade me to shove something down my throat then rush back here. So I do. I swear I was only gone two minutes, but it seemed like the second I sat down to eat Amber was running into the lunch room like something bad happened. But she was smiling. _Katniss. What if she's awake?_ I stand up with my food being the last thing on my mind. Me feet are moving so fast next to Amber's, it feels like wind. _I need to get to Katniss as fast as I can._ My pace quickens, and within minutes we are approaching Katniss's room. As soon as I walk in, I see my beautiful Katniss, awake.

_My Katniss is awake! Everything is going to be ok!_

* * *

**Right before:**

**KATNISS'S POV**

I open my eyes, not knowing anything. I have not the strangest idea of where I am or what is going on. Then I hear a gasp, and see a dash of red zoom out the door. _I am really confused._ My eyes are still not used to the bright light, and my vision is blurred. My hand instinctively moves up to rub my eyes, but something restrains it. An IV tube? Am I in a hospital? That would explain the fluorescent light and hospital gown and stale air. What exactly happened?

All of a sudden I am smacked with reality and my head feels heavy, and my stomach has a really sharp pain all across the side. My whole body is in pain. My stomach drops and feels like a thousand rocks are piled up in the pit of it. Where's Gale? With that bear attack, did Gale make it out alive? He was in front of me, protecting me, could he have Wait, no. I wouldn't be here if Gale _wasn't _here, so that must mean he is here wherever here is somewhere.

Ugh, my head is hurting worse from all this thinking. I better stop and calm down. I'm sure Gale is here somewhere. Hopefully.

Just then, I hear loud, fast, almost scary footsteps down the hall, getting noisier every second. Then, they stop. Gale walks in, and following him is Amber. Gale. He's here, and alive. He rushes over to me, and immediately takes his hand in mine while his other hand is caressing my hair, and my face, and my lips, just taking everything in. I do the same to him, but the IV tube and my weakness restricts my hand from doing so, so instead, I use my eyes.

"Gale." My voice is raspy due to long disuse.

"Oh, Katniss. I have missed you so much. I love you. Don't ever leave me again. Oh, you have no idea how much pain I have been in since you left. I love you… I love you…" he mumbles this over and over again, getting closer with every word, until his lips are just millimeters away from mine. My head just barley lifts up from the pillow before our lips in what feels like forever touch. It's such a good feeling; it brings me to life. The heart monitor speeds up, and the butterflies in my stomach begin their dance party, but then it stops when Gale pulls away.

"Katniss, I should probably get a doctor to come check on you, now that you woke up. You know, just to make sure everything's ok." As soon as he says this, Amber leaves the room to, I assume, get a nurse. Right when we hear the door click shut, he moves his mouth up to my ear, and whispers softly. "Glad you're back, Catnip." When he pulls back to look at me, I see a small tear in his eye, that he refuses to let spill over, and there is a playful smile tugging at his lips.

"I'm glad to be back." I smile too, even though I am in so much pain. "What exactly happened?"

He tells me everything from right when I passed out, until now. I love these moments between us, where we're not doing anything really romantic, but it's filled with romance. I just love watching Gale talk, hearing his voice, feeling his hand in mine. Right now, we're both laying on the small, hard, twin-sized hospital bed, with his arm around me, while I am laying into him, just listening to him talk. We're sitting there for hours and hours, just talking. A few nurses come in and out, for a quick check of my heart monitor and IV tube, but other than that, no one else comes in. Then, there's a knock on the door, and it opens.

"Dad, what's the point of knocking if you're just going to come in anyway?" I say jokingly. I laugh, and he smiles. This is the first time I've seen him in a while. Gale gets up and leaves respectfully. My dad sits down next to me on the side of the bed, and he gives me a warm, reassuring hug.

"I'm so glad you're ok. I-I think we all were worried about you in there. But now that you're awake and everything is fine with the medical stuff, and you just need rest, I think I'm going to go back home with David to get the rest of the families; your mom, sister, Gale's siblings, Hazelle. Are you ok here until I get back? I'm sure Gale will take good care of you."

"Yeah. I'll be fine. I love you, Dad."

"Love you too, sweetheart." That's it. He squeezes my hand right before he stands up, and then he's gone. I'm glad he waited till I woke up, but what if Prim took out more tesserae, and Mom went into a worse stage of depression, not that it could have gotten much worse. What if they starved to death? _No! Katniss! Stop thinking like that! They're survivors, they will be ok. _

Gale comes in right after my father leaves, and he comes to lie by me like he was before. "Our fathers are going back to District 12 to get our families. My dad wanted to say hello and goodbye, I guess." I yawn. "I've missed you so much, even though you've been here the whole time." I yawn again, even bigger, and I rub my eyes.

"Haha, someone's tired. I'll let you sleep." He starts to rise, and I grab onto his arm.

"No. Don't go! I need someone to keep me safe." I plead.

"Relax! I'm just turning off the lights!" he laughs, with an innocent gesture and a peck on the cheek. I'm so tired, I think I fall asleep before he even comes back in the bed, but all I know is that I won't have any nightmares tonight.

* * *

**A WEEK LATER:**

I wake up to the sound of an opening door. I open my eyes, and two things are different. I don't have any tubes connected to me besides the IV tube, and the horrible pain in my stomach had dimmed down to a small throbbing. I glanced around for Gale; luckily I didn't have to look very long. He was sleeping in the white chair right by my bed; his head was rested against the armrest. I sighed; he looked so young, so innocent while he slept, as if he was that young, handsome, 14 year old man in the woods some years ago. My left hand cups his cheek, and my lips find his, and his eyes instantly flutter open.

"Why don't you always wake me up like that?" he suggests.

"Um, I'll see if I can arrange that." We both smile, and slowly kiss again, and I am left with a feeling of bliss.

"What do you want to do today? I mean, what can you do?" he says, motioning towards my injuries.

"Oh, come on. It's just a little scratch. Wait, how long was I out of it?"

"About 4 months."

"Just for this tiny scrape? Wow, people can be really precautious these days." We both smile.

"Yeah, I know! It's crazy! I'm just glad that my strong, fierce, amazing Catnip is ok."

"But I can't do anything of the things we love to do. We can't hunt, we can't-Well, hunting is basically all we do really." a small smile forming on my lips.

"I know one thing we love that you haven't mentioned yet…" Gale said mischievously.

"What?" I said, cocking an eyebrow at him.

He swooped in, almost like a bird of prey, his lips pressing against mine. Oh, how I've missed everything about him.

"Glad you can still do that without being in pain." As a reply, I kiss him again. Right then, the door swoops open. Even though we have nothing to hide, we jump apart. A nurse walks in. She looks like she is probably in her sixties, with her soft brown hair and grey roots. Her smile is the kind that if you see it, you instantly become happy. She seems like a very motherly person, no doubt she has kids of her own.

"Oh, there's nothing to worry about. I'll just check the machines, and I'll be out in a jiffy. How are you feeling? Do you need water or food or anything?"

"I'm feeling good, thanks. I could use some water, though, if you don't mind."

"Of course, miss. How about you, sir? I probably should only get her the things she needs, but I can see you wont be leaving anytime soon, so I might as well get you stuff, too." She smiles a comforting smile. We both smile back.

"I don't need anything, thank you." Gale says kindly. She gives a small nod, and then leaves.

"I think we've been in here too long, Catnip." Gale suggests.

"Gale, I've been conscious for a week, just lying in bed, and haven't been on my feet for a few months. I don't think walking will come easily any time soon."

"Yeah, but you gotta start somewhere. C'mon. It will be easy once you get the hang of it. Besides. I'll be there the whole time to help you." I hesitate before saying yes. I really don't feel like walking. I'm just too tired. But he's right. I got to start somewhere, right?

"Fine. But we will wait till after that lady gets back with my water." Right after I said that, she walks in with a small plastic cup filled with water. She hands it to me with a smile, and I am able to mutter a quick 'thank you' before she is out the door.

"Ok, chug that thing, and lets go." Gale says enthusiastically.

"Okay, okay. Calm down." I bring the cup up to my lips, and let the stale, old, warm water slide down my throat. It may not be very appetizing, but water is water. I gently set down the now-empty cup, and look over at Gale.

"Ready?" he asks.

"Yeah."

I tossed the covers off, wincing slightly at the cold air that crashed into every ounce of my bare skin. I shakily move my legs over the side of the bed; they were only a few inches above ground. I slowly move my feet closer and closer to the floor, until the tips of my toes touch the cold hard ground. I flatten out my foot and then both of my feet are firmly planted on the floor. Gale, standing, grabs my hand, and I very cautiously stand up, and the bottom of my hospital gown slide down to just below my knee, and my very messy braid moves and it falls from behind my shoulder, to in front of my shoulder. It feels really strange, having my feet on the ground, supporting all my weight. I'm actually surprised that my long skinny legs can support my weight. All though I'm sure I've lost a couple of pounds from not doing anything.

Ok, I can stand on my own. That's half the battle; I just have to be able to walk. That shouldn't be _too_ hard.

"It's ok. You're doing good. Just try to walk. It will be easier once you get the hang of it. Trust me." He kisses my cheek as a gesture of encouragement. I lift up my right foot, and put it in front of my left foot, and then my left in front of my right, right, left, right, left, and pretty soon we're walking out the door.

"Thanks! That was a lot easier than I'd expected." I take a risk, and stand on my tiptoes, and our lips meet.

"You're welcome! Anything to get my old Catnip back. You hungry?" I nod.

"Ok, let's go to the cafeteria and grab some lunch." He glances at the clock on the gray wall. "Lunch should still be being served." He puts his arm around my waist and I lean my head into his shoulder, and we walk like that to the cafeteria. By the time we get there, there are only a few people in the room with trays of food. We go over to the counter where they serve the food. They are very specific about weight and height, so that everyone stays healthy and so they can maintain their food balances. Because I've been cooped up in the hospital bed for four months, I only got about a quarter amount of food on my tray. The food tastes disgusting, but since I haven't really eaten anything for a long time, so I pretty much inhale the food I was given.

Gale gives me look, "Wow Catnip, I thought you were bluffing when you said you were hungry, but I guess I shouldn't underestimate a girl who was pretty much in hibernation." He laughs as he says this.

I throw a spoon at his _extremely_ attractive face and he catches it, laughing.

After we're both finished eating, we go back to my hospital room, and I sit down on the bed next to Gale.

"What should we do?" I ask.

"Well, we kind of _do_ have a wedding to plan…" he says with a smirk I can't help but love.

"Oh yeah, _that_ wedding." I say jokingly, a smile still plastered on my face.

"Yeah. _That_ wedding. Not that one, but _that_ one." He says humorously.

"Yeah, I'm glad we're caught up now."

"So, when do you want the wedding to be?"

"Well, I definitely want it to be when our families come back, there's no doubt about that."

"Yeah… or we could get married, just the two of us, right now. We could go sign the papers, right this second, and then have a toasting to make it official. We don't have to make it big. Just you and me…" he trails off, his voice very lulling and seductive, his head and body leaning into me, closer and closer with every word, until our lips slowly touch.

I wrap my arms around his neck, pulling me as close to him as humanly possible, and his arms slide around my thin waist. Everything was deliciously warm around me; it was almost like the heat pulsed out of Gale's body like a flame. Fire exploded against my lips, traveling faster than a speeding train through my body. Down my spinal cord, surging threw my veins, rushing into my bloodstream and setting everything on fire in its wake. I loved it. My senses were alive with a passion that burned like an inferno. For a moment we burned. Together. Melting into each other. Our thoughts entwining, every move we make is synchronized.

Suddenly there was a loud obnoxious knock on the door. Everything came back into focus, and we broke apart gasping. Quick as fish in water, Gale leaps from the bed into the squishy armchair beside the bed and I pretend to be sleeping just as the door opens. I can't see anything, but I hear Gale whisper something to the nurse lady person, and she turns to the door.

"Just so you kids know. We've been having this hospital room under surveillance. We have camera's _everywhere_ so you might want to find a more _private _area in the complex." The nurse woman said just before she closed the door.

Gale's face turned beet red.

I could swear I heard the nurse lady laughing outside the door.

_End of Chapter 15_

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**Sorry this was kind of a delayed chapter, but it's here now! We feel really bad for not posting, and we hope you continue to read! Be prepared for awesomeness of Chapter 16!**

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